Chance Meeting at the Coffee Shop
by Last of the Star Makers
Summary: AUDIENCE? WHA- What are you doing looking for romantic fanfiction about me and an OC? That's so silly, Audience. LA is freaking HOT. SO hot that I almost gave up coffee and wouldn't have met- ...do you hear that? Sounds like...shrieking, like a horde of females screaming with excitement, screaming and...running...towards me... GOOD LORD! RUN AUDIENCE! RUN! ::Toby Turner/Tobuscus::
1. An Exciting Moment

_Author's notes: Hello once again for the first time, Audience! So, I've had this chapter's idea for the beginning of a story in my head since about 2008, I just never had a famous person in mind to put with it. Reading other fanfics about Toby (specifically Gurrbill's Gratitude! Go read it, it's good!) after having been part of the Audience for roughly a year now, inspired me to use him…but it seems like I'm not the only one with ideas like this. Oh well! Great minds think alike and all that._

_Since I have a problem with details (meaning I like being as detailed as possible), I just want everyone to know that no, I don't know where our friend Tobuscus lives (I don't even live in CA), so yes there may actually be no real reason for him to have been strolling around the North side of LA right before he runs across our . But liberties in writing must be taken, otherwise there would be no story, yes?_

* * *

The best part about Caffe Luxxe is, in fact, the coffee, Jane concluded as she happily sipped her "Testa Rossa," which is what the café calls their espresso. The worst part? It faces to the South, so the sun beats down on the façade at all times of the day. The establishment must have been aware of this fact, because there were tables and chairs intelligently set up underneath the West awning. Granted, at 7:05 am there wasn't exactly too much sun yet, but that just made Jane's usual table, situated perfectly under the edge of the awning so that the sun never quite reached it but she had a good view of the sidewalk, all the more luxurious.

"Is this seat taken?"

Jane blinked down at her book a couple of times as out of the corner of her eye she watched some guy slide into the seat next to her without waiting for an answer, scooting the chair closer to her than she felt was a comfortable distance for a stranger.

"I guess it is now." Jane said more harshly than she supposed she meant it, her tongue jumping to her defense in her confusion.

"Can I borrow these?"

Now Jane looked up as the intruder quickly and expertly yanked his own distinctively bright aqua zip hoodie off his shoulders, whipped her light jacket out from underneath her purse and, without pause, pulled it over his lime green T-shirt while stuffing his discarded hoodie deep into his lap.

His next move consisted of swiping her ascot cap from its poise on top of her purse and jamming it down on his head, pulling it as far over his eyes as possible.

"You are a strange fellow." She thought it rather obvious that this was the case, but it was the only sentence she felt she could form coherently at that moment. The next one came quicker.

"And please don't flatten my father's hat."

If she hadn't been so flabbergasted at the last fifteen seconds' events, she might have smiled back at him as the roguish man beside her flashed an infectious and mischievous grin in her direction. She did notice the perfectly straight, white teeth with a bit of envy though.

"I didn't know ascot caps could be flattened anymore than they already were." He fired back.

"I think you'd be very surprised." Jane glanced quickly at the current page of her book before closing it and placing it on the table next to her espresso. Whoever this man was, he didn't seem to be going anywhere at the moment, but she didn't exactly want him to take off wearing her clothes.

"You look like someone who runs and hides a lot, who is it you're trying to get away from this time?" Jane crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, turning her head to try and get a better look at this increasingly interesting circumstance beside her.

The man wearing her hat and jacket threw his head back in a great bout of unrestrained laughter, but quickly clamped his hand over his mouth and glanced with nervous, wide eyes back towards the street to his left.

That's when Jane finally realized that since he sat down, there had been high-pitched girly shrieks of joy coming from down the street on the other side of Caffe Luxxe.

The man grabbed for the newspaper someone left on the table next to him and snapped it open, quickly crossing his feet at the anklest in a reclining position.

At that moment, an enormous mob of females burst around the corner and started to run down the block towards the pair sitting under the awning.

Slowly, knowing the man's newspaper blocked the mob's vision of her for the next couple of seconds, Jane grabbed for her book, and with a practiced hand opened right to the page she left. Leaning her elbows on the table and encircling her drink with her arms, Jane had a perfect peripheral view of what was happening.

Jane winced a bit as some of the shrieks periodically hit a certain pitch that grated at her ears, but otherwise, she continued to look perfectly content with her book as if she did not have a care in the world.

"JANE!"

Trouble.

Jane felt that ignoring the shout would be a worse decision than acknowledging it, but she also felt the stranger next to her visibly tense behind his newspaper.

Putting on her sweetest smile, Jane slowly raised her head.

At basically the head of the pack, Jane recognized the frantically waving young woman as Hayley, a friend.

As the mob ran by, Hayley dropped out for a moment and planted her hands heavily on the table, leaning over it with a grin and a gasp for air.

"How long have you been running?" Jane asked with a bit of surprise.

The slender girl got up early every morning and ran two, three, how ever many miles she felt like running.

There were still shrieking girls running by, grins plastered on their faces similar in nature to the one Hayley wore on her own face in the midst of her hard breathing and flushed cheeks.

"Long enough!" Hayley replied happily.

Jane thought she heard 'five blocks' from behind the newspaper next to her, but there was too much noise to be sure. Hayley must have been one of the loudest shriekers if she was as out of breath as she looked from that short of a distance.

Hayley glanced to her right to see how much longer she had to take a break before the end of the mob. Jane looked with her.

There was no end in sight.

"You saw Tobuscus run by, right?"

Jane snapped her attention back to Hayley. To-who-gus?

"What?"

"Tobuscus. The guy we're chasing." If possible, Hayley's smile got wider.

"You mean the one that shot passed, madly clawing at the air in front of him to run faster?"

Hayley laughed, "Yup! That's him!"

The open newspaper next to Jane rustled in what Jane took to be quiet indignation at her description of him and the movement caught Hayley's attention.

Jane did not want to have to deal with the sly look Hayley cast back at her.

"So, Janey. Who is this?" Hayley waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Jane.

"He's-" some random stranger who came tearing down the block and took the seat next to me. Jane choked on her sentence before it could fully form.

"Hay-LEY!" A shout came from the mob that still thundered passed.

"Gotta go. See yah!" Hayley charged back into the mob full throttle, apparently having recovered her breath.

Jane sat amused at the entire situation, also grateful to come away clean from her friend's prying questions.

Another full minute passed before the last of the scary group rounded a corner two or three blocks away. Even without actually having their prey in sight, someone in the front must be pretending they know where they're going.

The newspaper next to her heaved a giant sigh.

"Thank you."

Jane just shook her head, "For what?"

"Not giving me away." The newspaper came down a bit and the brown-haired man grinned his thanks at her.

"I don't even know who you are, so I'm not sure if that's really what I should be thanked for."

"You don't recognize me?"

Jane couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

"I just said that."

"Right. Well. Thanks for helping out a random stranger who was in danger of being mauled to death by a mass of shrieking, over fifty percent underage, group of females."

"They're the worst when they smell your fear."

He threw his head back for another laugh and Jane felt as if he always laughed that hard.

He sobered up after a moment and snapped the newspaper clean again.

" 'Madly clawing at the air'?" The newspaper came down and he started to meticulously fold it back together, as if to contain his mock-anger. "Did you even see me running towards you before I sat down?" He carefully placed the paper in its entirety back down on the table where he snatched it, then turned to glare at her.

"Well of course not, but it must have been a valid description." Jane closed her book once more, matching him stare for stare.

He looked as if he wanted to stick his tongue out at her, but resisted the temptation, his lips pursing together.

After a beat of that expression, he smiled playfully, starting to fish something out of one of his pockets, "You look like someone who comes to the same place at the same time everyday and sits in the exact same chair so-"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jane felt it to be her turn to glare menacingly at him.

He shrugged noncommittally, the impish gleam in his eyes not mirroring the throw away gesture, "I'd like to buy you coffee tomorrow for saving my life."

"So you're saying that your life is worth one cup of coffee?"

"Well," He leaned over her and took a good sniff at the contents of her cup, "Specifically, I would say that it's worth a Testa Rossa and no more."

"Is that so."

He nodded.

"Well, am I to expect there to be a mob of fangirls chasing after you tomorrow as well? One likes to be prepared for these things, you know. I could bring you a large, Winter coat next time."

Laughing nervously, he scratched the back of his head with one hand in a comically apprehensive manner, finally succeeding in retrieving a phone from his back pocket.

"Trust me, I sincerely hope not." He looked down at his phone and pressed a few buttons, then held the phone up in front of his face.

Jane wondered why he felt that now would be an appropriate time for a picture when he dropped the hand holding the phone into his lap and looked over at her.

"Can I borrow this?" He grabbed at the collar of her jacket with his free hand.

"The jacket, yes. The hat, no."

He remembered that she mentioned it was her father's hat.

Saluting her with respect, he removed the cap and placed it on her head, patting it down once to secure it, "Yes, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am!"

Losing the formality, he laughed, "I feel like I should trade coats all day to help disguise me. I did have some things to get done today."

Jane opened her mouth to protest at him giving her jacket away, but he waved a hand dismissing the comment.

"I'll bring it back tomorrow, don't you worry little lady."

Before she could say anything else, he plopped both his hand and his phone into her purse.

"Audience? WHA-" He pulled the phone out, "What are you going hiding out in Janey's purse? There's nothing to fear out here!" He whipped the camera of the phone up and down the street, laughing nervously.

"Hothothothothothothot." The phone followed a pair of ladies walking into the coffee shop a few feet away. "INTRO of DARKNESS then REDNESS then WHITENESS."

Jane felt super confused. She already knew that this was one strange dude sitting next to her, but in less than ten seconds of time, he had shot up to new heights on her weirdo scale.

"Okay, so, apparently this is…chase…Toby? Day? Or something? Haha," there was the nervous laugh again. He scratched the back of his head, "N-no one told me this when I decided to leave my house this morning and- hothothothothothot. Man, I NEED to go into this coffee shop! I probably shouldn't be sitting still, should I? As soon as I post this, there's going to be this ginormous mob of females crashing up from behind me.

"You want some coffee?" He started to dip his phone towards Jane's cup of espresso. "Nah, I don't think it'd be good for you, Audience. It might stunt your growth. And we want you to grow up to be a super awesome basketball player like nine feet tall or something. Haha! I'm just kidding. Oo, look, birds!" He flashed the phone towards a couple of finches that landed nearby on some bread someone didn't quite get into the trashcan. "They're so cute! Look, someone left them a snack! How sweet."

Jane's phone beeped quietly from the top of her purse and she grabbed it, seeing a text from Hayley.

_"So, who was that guy you were with, huh?"_

Jane sighed before typing back, _"Is the chase over?"_

Hayley was always quick to respond and Jane's phone beeped again a few seconds later.

_"Yeah, he gave us the slip sometime after we passed you. You didn't answer my question!"_

Jane put the phone up, not particularly wanting to answer her question yet. And also realizing that she didn't actually know what guy she was with.

"Okay, so I feel as if we should keep moving, Audience. These are dangerous parts around these here…parts." He got up with his phone and started to move away towards the corner the mob first chased him around.

"Say bye to Janey, Audience! Bye Janey!" He waved his free hand and also his phone back and forth in a quick wave before turning back to continue walking.

"So, they chased me forever, for like…five blocks. Which is forever! I ran around this corner and…"

His voice faded off as he moved farther and farther away, finally turning the corner and going back the way he came.

Jane took a deep breath as she watched him leave and held it for a second before letting it out. This was definitely the most exciting morning she'd had in a long time.

A bright color from the chair next to her caught her eye and she realized her exciting morning had walked off without his zip hoodie. She debated inwardly with herself. If he knew what a Testa Rossa smelled like, he was probably a frequent patron of Caffe Luxxe, which meant that she could very easily take the hoodie inside, say someone left it, and leave matters to them. On the other hand, she did plan on coming again tomorrow anyway, and if he actually showed up, she could hand off the hoodie and get hers in return, or even hold the hoodie hostage until he gave hers back.

Her gaze followed the path the stranger took moments ago, mind wandering off into nothing.

At least...she hoped to get that jacket back. It was one of her favorites.

* * *

_Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	2. Coffee Shop Conversation

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. Okay, so I'm not too sold on the main title for the story. I like to title things in relation to what the over-all plot is about, but since this was just a little diddy in my head, I have NO IDEA what the plot is :D Just in case anyone was wondering. I don't often write things like this off the top of my head without some sort of plan for where it's going. LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I HAVE NO PLAN. And I'm totally not ashamed of it._

* * *

Jane's heart lurched for a second as she put her hand on the door of Caffe Luxxe.

As usual, the lights were on, open precisely at seven am like always, and the wonderful smell of coffee vented out into the general area.

Nothing seemed particularly different. Same street, same time of day, getting ready to go in and order the same coffee just like any other morning when she had the time. Maybe that was it. Everything seemed…mundane, boring even.

_"Is this really what's become of my life?"_ Jane thought to herself. _"The same things day in and day out? Have I become…predictable?"_

"Janey!"

The shout of her name pulled Jane out of her thoughts and snap back into the real world. She looked over her shoulder to see a random guy waving frantically at her, stupid smile slapped across his face.

Not just any random guy, she noted after a confused second, her exciting moment from yesterday morning. The strange blip in what she started to rapidly notice as being a dreary existence.

Hitching up her purse higher on her shoulder, Jane slowly let go of the door handle while still looking in his direction.

This morning she debated madly with herself about whether to come for her morning cup of coffee or to forgo the ritual completely and make instant coffee at home. The prospect of meeting with a stranger was daunting.

"Buck up, old girl. People go on blind dates all the time." She had told herself. Not that she considered this a proper 'date' by any means. Just a cup of coffee with a random stranger that she couldn't even say she had really met yesterday. Happenstance simply dictated that he sat down at her table and sought sanctuary in her company. Boy, would Hayley go bonkers if she heard about this one.

"Not that she IS going to hear about it." Not if Jane could help it at all.

Besides, Jane continued to rationalize with herself, people met randomly in public places after talking on the internet with less words than the two of them exchanged in person the day before. Granted, usually the two people hadn't commandeered articles of one another's clothing.

The jacket.

Back to the present, Jane glanced down at the aqua zip hoodie slung over the arm carrying her purse. The jacket had possibly been the biggest deciding factor of this meeting for her, and what truly pushed her to quickly gather her things to make it to Caffe Luxxe at her normal arrival time. She really did like that jacket.

Her inner dialogue hadn't taken any time at all, and yet by the time Jane looked up again, she noticed the worried look on the stranger's face. Realizing that her momentary hesitation had likely caused his worry, she picked up her steps and briskly closed the distance between the two of them.

His creased eyebrows smoothed out as she came closer and a slow grin overtook his features.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to have to come over and get you myself or if I should start yelling embarrassing things at you to get you to come over faster."

"I appreciate the restraint on your part, dear sir." Jane stopped as she got to the edge of the table. She presented his hoodie with both hands. "I believe this is yours."

He laughed sheepishly, "I believe you are correct. I hadn't really missed it much, to be honest. Until I got home from my errands and remembered that it was your jacket I was wearing."

"May I have my jacket back now?"

"Only if you sit down and join me first." He gestured openly to the empty seat next to him.

Jane placed her things on the table as she pulled out the chair and sat, "You didn't lose it, did you?"

From the chair on the other side of him, he retrieved her jacket, "Safe and sound, gurl! And none worse for the wear!"

Taking the jacket from him, Jane replaced it with his hoodie, "I'm glad I didn't have to hold it hostage in order to get mine back."

He laughed again and they each disposed of the jackets.

Jane frowned after a moment, looking around her as something felt a bit off. She shifted in her chair a bit.

"A-ha! I would bet by that look on your face that you are only just now noticing the change in venue!" He turned back to her.

"Pardon?"

"If you'll notice, gurl, we are sitting exactly one table over and one table back from where you were sitting yesterday."

Jane leaned over to look pass him and immediately recognized the table she picked out for its perfect placement. She felt uncomfortable and shifted in her chair again.

"Ha ha, if you really feel that bad about sitting over here, we can move. But I asked that table if it wouldn't mind not having company this morning and it said that it wouldn't mind at all. I took the liberty of picking a different table!"

"Any other surprises before I have a heart attack?

"Well," He drew out the word and Jane knew something else was up, "I would venture to guess that you order a Testa Rossa all the time…" He took one of the two cups in front of him, placed the saucer down in front of her, and then put the cup on top of that.

"I'm extremely picky about my coffee." She warned.

He laughed, "So I gathered. Give it a try. I cross my heart hope to die that if you don't like it, I will march myself right back in there, throw the cup at the barista's face and get you a Testa Rossa. But only if you try it first!" He waggled a finger at her.

The thought of this stranger standing up for her by throwing coffee at a confused barista made Jane smile.

He grinned at her and indicated the cup.

"Your adventure awaits."

"Are you always this cheerful?"

"Do you always sound British-y when you are surprised?" He countered her question with one of his own, leaning in closer to her, a searching look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Jane started back a bit at the mention of it.

"Ha, just then! You did it just then!"

"I don't have a clue as to what you're talking about." Just as Jane thought yesterday, this man's smile was infectious and she found herself smiling foolishly at his excited expression.

"It's pretty awesome." He wiped some invisible dirt off of his shoulder. He slipped into a proper English drawl, "My British accent isn't half bad either, if I do say so myself."

"And you do." Jane noted.

"So, what gives with the accent? You not from around here?"

The two of them took an unspoken, mutual, momentary break from the conversation to take a sip of coffee as they both reached for their mugs at roughly the same time. Jane was grateful that her drinking partner did not say anything when she took a second sip after tentatively letting the first barely graze her tongue, though the sparkle in his eyes spoke volumes.

Even just the brief reprieve let Jane collect her rapidly tumbling thoughts and form her next sentence a bit more assuredly.

"I'm afraid that I don't feel comfortable continuing this conversation any longer until we've at least exchanged the usual pleasantries two strangers are expected to exchange."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow playfully, "Your name is Janey and my name is Tobuscus. Is that not pleasant enough?"

"I feel fairly certain that Tobuscus, as cool and gladiatorial as it may sound, isn't your real name." Janey leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Do you now? What if I told you that was the name everyone knows me by?"

"That still doesn't make it your birth name. Or the one your mother calls you."

"I'll have you know that even Mombuscus has slipped up and called me Tobuscus before." He seemed rather proud of that fact.

Mom…buscus?

As if reading the confusion on her face, he continued, "And if you play your cards right, maybe I'll start calling you Janeybuscus."

Jane made a face, "I think I'd prefer it if I stayed out of that club, thank you."

"What, don't like it?" He looked hurt.

"You aren't attaching the right name to it, for one thing. Which brings me back to the introductions…"

"Oh alright, as you wish." He sighed and scooted his chair back, turning away for a moment.

Jane wasn't really sure what to expect when he abruptly left his seat.

Suddenly he spun back around, "Oh! Hello. My name is Toby Turner. I wanted to thank you officially for saving my life yesterday." Toby Turner bowed to Jane and, half-rising, extended a hand towards her.

Jane felt that remaining in her seat was fitting, but she did take Toby's hand, "You are quite welcome, Toby Turner. My name is Jane Johnson."

"Ah!" He exclaimed, shaking her hand politely, "An alliteration! How appropriate that we two met!" He dropped her hand and laughed as he sat down and pulled his chair back up to the table.

"Where did the name Tobuscus come from?" Jane wanted to know.

Toby put his coffee back down, having taken a drink as soon as he sat, and held up a hand to let her know that he had coffee still in his mouth. After swallowing it, he spoke up.

"It's the name I use on all of the video games I play. My persona, if you will."

"Right. And adding the end of it to everything…?"

"Ha, that is a trade secret, ma'am."

Jane shook her head and took another drink, feeling strangely grateful to this 'Toby Turner.' The coffee wasn't too bad. And the wind flowed nicely between the two buildings to this seat, countering the warm coffee she drank.

"Okay, so I satisfied your curiosity about my name. Now it's your turn."

Jane tried to look innocent, like she didn't already know what he was going to ask of her.

"Your last name sounds pretty English. I guess that means your dad is from Great Britain at least."

"That isn't really a question, you know."

"Well, am I right?"

Jane sighed, "Was. My dad was from Great Britain."

It took Toby a second to understand her correction of his tense, but then it dawned on him. His mouth formed an 'O.'

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to bring anything hurtful up." He toyed with the saucer of his cup.

Jane released another sigh, "It's…okay."

She found herself looking down into the muddy colored beverage, but still felt like she should go on, "Business brought him here to the U.S. and he met my Mom and they settled down. We moved around a lot though. L.A. is probably my Mom's favorite place, so when Dad died, she moved here and I followed her as soon as I could."

"How long has he been gone? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's been since I got out of college, four years ago now?" Jane looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "Wow. It'll be the second anniversary of his death this year." She shook her head, "Sorry. I try not to think about it too often."

Toby seemed to understand and looked sympathetic, "Miss him?"

Jane nodded once, "Lots. We were really close. It's been hard knowing that he's not around anymore."

"So, you went to college, huh?" Toby felt bad bringing down the conversation like he had, even if it was accidental, so he changed the subject and smiled.

"Yup. You?"

"Oh yeah, gurl. I went to college. Probably graduated about when you did. Got one of them there degrees." He slipped into a hick accent, "It's done helped me out a lot in life."

"Oh really? We're about the same age? You seem much older than that. 40. 50." Jane waved a hand nonchalantly before picking up her coffee, using the mug to hide her smile.

"Oo, ouch," Toby hissed and rubbed his forearm, "Burn. And how old are you? 12? 13?"

"Pardon?"

"Ha, that accent gets me every time!"

Jane wasn't sure whether to glare at him or shake her head. She went with glare and took another sip of her coffee.

"What? Don't women like to be thought younger than they are? I thought that might get me some brownie points. You can't be a day over 15. 16?"

"You are a funny, funny man, Toby Turner." Jane shook her head at this point, but couldn't help smiling.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you think so, Jane Johnson." He raised his cup to her in toast before taking a drink.

Suddenly, Jane felt hands clamp themselves over her eyes and her heart leapt in her chest in fright.

"Guess who."

The voice sounded as if whoever it was purposefully lowered how their voice sounded in order to mask the owner.

Jane was at a loss.

"Um…"

Toby's laugh sounded a bit testy this time, "I'll give you a hint, Jane. Who led the pack yesterday?"

Just as quickly as the hands had been placed over her eyes, they were gone.

Hayley smacked Toby on the shoulder, "That completely gave it away, Tobuscus." She put her hands on her hips in protest.

Toby put his hands out in a relenting gesture and shrugged, smile back on his face.

Hayley leaned in between them and put her elbows down on the table, looking left and right to catch both people's expressions.

"What are you doing here, Hayley?" Jane thought she heard the British in her voice that time. _"Darn you, Toby Turner. Am I really that easy to read?"_

"I think I should be asking you that question, Janey, my dear." Hayley booped Jane on the nose with a finger. She stood up and stuck out a hand towards Toby. "By the way, the name's Hayley."

"So I gathered," Toby replied with mock-disdain as he took her hand. "I do so appreciate being able to officially put a name with my nemesis."

"Nemesis?" Hayley threw her head back in laughter, "I get to be Tobuscus' nemesis." She rubbed her hands together, relishing the role, "I think I might be able to do something with that."

"Don't give her any ideas." Jane warned Toby.

"Oh, it's much too late for that, Janey." Hayley hunched over like an old witch over her cauldron and cackled. "I'll get you, my pretty. And your little dog too!"

Toby clutched at his heart, "No! Not Griffin! Anything but my precious Griffin!"

Hayley stood back up, looking pleased with herself.

"My first order of business as your newly proclaimed nemesis is to inform you of a rather large group of girls headed in this direction."

"What?" Toby grew wide-eyed and would have shot up out of his chair then and there had the action not likely caused him to spill his coffee all over his lap. "How do they know I'm here?"

Hayley looked innocent, "Oh, I dunno. Probably something about your daily vlog from yesterday involving a seat relatively close to this and a couple of frames with the name of the shop."

"Why is this your first act as nemesis? Isn't informing him of this counter-logical?" Jane wanted to know. "Aren't you actually being helpful?"

"To the innocent bystander, yes. As a nemesis though, I just like seeing him squirm."

As if on perfect queue, girly shrieks hit their ears.

"You might want to start running, Toby." Hayley sauntered towards the door of the coffee shop, "They get louder the closer they are." She winked over her shoulder at them and went inside.

"This. Is not good." Toby jumped up out of his seat. "Definitely, definitely, not good."

* * *

_Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	3. RUN TOBY RUN

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. When we left off, Toby's rabid fangirls were on the hunt..._

* * *

"We gotta go. Now." Toby felt uncharacteristically serious.

"Huh?" Jane wasn't really sure what the 'we' was about.

"You remember that group of girls I was running away from yesterday?" He glanced nervously behind them, in the direction of the screams of joy.

"Kinda hard to forget."

"I recognize some of those screams. I would bet a big part of this group is the same. And that's bad. Very bad."

"Why is it bad?"

"No time. Come on!" He grabbed her arm in an attempt to pull her from her seat.

"But what about our coffee?" She resisted the pull.

"I'm sure your friend in there will take care of it." Toby jerked his head toward the coffee shop.

Jane looked over to see Hayley watching them from inside, standing behind the huge windows that faced out into the awning of the building. Catching Jane's eye, she waved and grinned impishly.

The tug at her arm was more urgent the second time and succeeded in pulling Jane up from her seat.

"Don't forget your jacket!"

Jane knew without looking that Toby's grin was back on his face as Jane reached for both her purse and her jacket.

Zip hoodie in hand, Toby took off down the street with Jane in tow behind him.

"How on Earth did I get into this?" Jane wondered aloud as Toby switched from grabbing her arm to snatching a hold of her hand so that he could drag her along faster.

"Um, that may have sort of been my fault."

"How, exactly?"

"Well, I post vlogs and stuff online and you were in my daily vlog from yesterday when I first posted about this mob of girls chasing me."

Vlogs. Daily ones? Jane had no idea what he babbled on about.

"What's a vlog?"

"A video blog." He sounded as if he'd explained it a lot in his life. "It's exactly like a blog except that instead of typing it all out and posting it online, you video tape it and post it online."

"So, you weren't actually just talking to your phone yesterday because you're socially inept at making real friends."

"Ha!" He took a moment to flash a winning smile in her direction. "You're funny. You should write for Leno. 'Cuz you're funny."

The timing was perfect as the came up on South Saltair Avenue. There was a small huddle of people waiting for the crosswalk light to change and just as Toby and Jane ran up, the little green man indicated it was safe to cross. Toby didn't hesitate on plunging through the crowd, still pulling Jane along.

"Hold on." Jane tore her hand free of Toby's after they got clear of the street and crossed her arms, looking stubborn.

Toby danced from one foot to the other, "What what what?" He craned his neck to look over her shoulder, constantly aware that the screams were growing louder by the second.

"You run if you're so scared of a couple of girls. I'm staying right here. They aren't after me."

"Uh," Toby's eyes darted back and forth anxiously, "Actually, that's what I was just talking about. I'd feel bad if something happened to you if I left you behind."

She gave him a look that easily translated into, 'Really?'

"You were in my vlog," He hopped a bit faster now as he tried to explain, "They saw you. If they see you standing there, they'll recognize you."

"So?"

"Can we talk about this while running, please?" He gave her his best 'puppy dog eyes' that he could.

"Can those eyes get any bigger?" Jane threw her gaze heavenward as if seeking reprieve from his pleading look.

"If I say 'yes' to your question, does that mean the answer to my question is 'yes' too?" He widened his eyes as big as possible, giving up on the beseeching expression.

Jane laughed, feeling freer than she had in a long time.

"Okay, fine. But if you start not being able to talk while running, we're stopping."

"Oh, that won't ever happen." He grinned and grabbed her hand, taking off again.

They got halfway through the block before they had a rhythm and Jane started the conversation again.

"So," Jane took a deep breath, "Why does it matter if they recognize you?"

"Have you ever been mauled by a rabid group of fangirls?"

"No."

"Wanna see my scars?" He looked over his shoulder at her and wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "I lost my shirt and was lucky to get away with most of my jeans still intact."

"I can never tell if you're kidding or not." Jane decided.

"Good."

Privately, Jane was glad she decided to wear tennis shoes and not her heels today. It really did go with the saying, 'The kind of shoes you put on in the morning says a lot about the type of day you're hoping to have.' Not that Jane knew she was going to be chased today, but it was looking at the bright side of things.

"Any particular destination in mind?" Jane wanted to know.

The pair weren't running full tilt, Toby was saving his energy for if the mob actually spotted them and he figured that at the moment they had a good chance of escaping unless they ran into the back of it, but the jogging pace they were at made for a nice breeze to keep them cool.

"Well, my car would be nice. I did park in a different place than yesterday, but I'm kind of scared to go there now." Toby didn't want to think what would happen if they rounded the corner to his car only to find a second mob ready to give chase as soon as they saw him.

"We could have climbed in my car and I could have just driven you to yours. I parked near the coffee shop."

"I panicked." Toby admitted. "Just hearing those screams sends chills down my spine. And not the good, tingly, awesome-feeling ones either. The you're-just-asking-for-more-scars ones." To emphasize his point he shivered appropriately, sneaking a glance back at Jane to see how she reacted.

Jane couldn't stop smiling and felt like an idiot. The only thing that reassured her was Toby's ear to ear grin that he graced her with every once in a while after making a comment or answering a question. As panicked as she remembered his face being when they first heard the squeals, he seemed to be enjoying himself now.

_"Did he ever not enjoy himself?" _Jane thought the answer was no. Unless he was being chased by wild packs of glomping females. And only then if they were inevitably going to catch him.

When they reached the end of the block, they turned right, down South Bundy Drive and Toby slowed way down, letting go of Jane's hand and trusting she would follow, cutting through the gas station's parking lot.

"Here's where we cue the secret agent theme music," Toby started singing nonsense syllables to the tune of the James Bond theme, but quickly started adding his own words. "I wa-ant to get, to my car, ri-i-ight now, and then, I'd like to-o get into my car, ri-i-ight now, and after I ge-et in-to my car I like to-o take off and hopef'ly, go-o down the block!"

Toby started out slinking with his hands held together like a gun, but towards the end of the words, Toby sang louder and louder and flourished into the air with a huge gesture indicating which direction down the block he wished to drive.

Jane couldn't stop laughing and that just egged Toby on even more. He added a couple more verses as they made their way through the parking lot behind the gas station, apparently having forgotten all about the reason why they were trying to find his car in the first place.

Luck was on Toby's side for once, and when he spied his vehicle, he gratefully noticed that no one lurked about suspiciously.

As he started to walk towards the driver's side, he noticed Jane slowing down.

"I suppose you're safe enough now."

"Well shoot, gurl. Get in!" He waved her forward, "I can't have you walking back to your car unattended. Seriously, though, I don't want to let you out of my sight until I see you safely pulling away in your own car."

"Wow. What did those girls do to you to make you so nervous?"

"Y-you don't wanna know, heheh." He scratched the back of his head like he had the first morning they met: a sort of self-aware, nervous motion. "Suffice it to say that I hope to never be caught by them again." He held one hand up in an oath, the other over his heart.

Jane hesitated. She already met the guy for coffee. Was getting into his car really her safest option? There were stories about kidnappers in similar situations to this, luring women to their cars, weren't there?

Toby unlocked the driver's side door and slid into the seat, unlocking the rest of the automobile and adjusting the mirror and seat before putting in the keys. It was only then that he noticed Jane hadn't moved.

"Janey, get yo rear in gear! We got places to be!" He stuck his head out over the roof and yelled at her, wondering if he would be loud enough to break her reverie. "More specifically, away from here."

He seemed kind enough. He had nice eyes. Why so suspicious of him?

_"I'm just being cautious." _Jane tried to convince herself. _"There's nothing wrong with that."_

Part of her called her paranoid. Get in the car with the hottest guy you've spoken to in months before you regret it.

One giant shriek turned their heads towards the gas station, where around the corner the first of the mob popped out. Jane could almost feel the ground rumbling underneath the feet of the nearly psychotic girls.

As soon as Toby heard the shriek, he ducked back inside and slammed his door shut, starting the vehicle and opening the passenger side door within milliseconds of one another.

"Get in!" He ordered, hoping he didn't sound too harsh.

It looked almost like the force of his words is what pulled Jane forward, getting her dragging feet moving before the urgency of the situation snapped into place in her brain and she dove for the seat, grabbing the inside handle and yanking the door shut as face as she could.

"Seat belt." Toby reminded as he shifted gears.

Jane fumbled with the harness as Toby practically flew out of the parking lot, turning right and praying that the wheels wouldn't peal out and give away his position.

His luck held and the tires took the turn like a champ. He adjusted the rearview mirror again while keeping his eye on the road in front of him, glancing at it quickly to determine which direction the mob was going to take.

"It looks like they're going to keep running on Vincente." He heaved a gigantic sigh and plopped back against the seat, the leather making a slight protesting noise as he did so. "I think we've lost them."

"Thank heaven for small favors." Jane replied, still not quite comfortable being in the situation she found herself.

"Yeah, no kidding. I almost thought you were going to bail on me back there." He barked a short laugh, "I would have had to get out and kidnap you to keep you from dying at the hands of the mob. Or worse!"

Jane chuckled humorlessly, suddenly even more uncomfortable at the mention of kidnapping.

"All in all, I'd call it a successful morning." Toby lightly tapped the steering wheel for emphasize.

"Oh, you would, would you?" Jane replied, wry overtones in her words.

"Yup! I accomplished what I set out to do!"

"And what was that?"

"Get you some excitement."

Jane glanced over at Toby, quickly shifting her eyes back to the passing houses.

"So, let's see. Different table. Different coffee. Neither of which seemed particularly distasteful." It was Toby's turn to steal a look at Jane, trying to make for certain that his conjectures weren't false. She didn't make any noises of protest, so he continued, "Getting chased by a mob-"

"Why me?" Jane piped up.

"Pardon? Do you mean why are you getting chased by a mob?" Toby bobbed his head a bit, still thinking abut his secret agent song and what video that he could put it in. "That was an accidental part of the excitement."

He looked over at her for a moment before turning back to the road.

"Or do you mean, why did I sit down at your table yesterday and steal your clothes to hide myself? Call it a twist of fate that we two met."

"Yes, but why 'get me some excitement?'"

"Well," Toby didn't exactly have an answer for that right away, so there was a second or two of pause, "You seemed…bored."

Bored.

Jane didn't disagree, curious as she was to know why he thought that after spending less than fifteen minutes with her the day before. Was it really that obvious? Were people walking by her all the time saying, 'There she goes. That is one really bored-looking woman.'

The pair didn't say much as Toby took the streets that made a giant circle back to Caffee Luxxe. He figured that it would allow for enough time to clear out any stragglers.

Jane lost herself in her mind, stressing out over what other people were thinking about her. If Toby thought she looked bored, who else did? And why did it bother her if people thought she looked bored? She was bored. Bored out of her mind with the same things day in and day out. No...excitement.

Toby silently kept going over the words to his James Bond Theme until he worked the kinks out. It was going to be a good day when he figured out what exactly he was going to do with it.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Jane noticed that they were almost back around to Caffe Luxxe.

"Since you're free, you should come over!"

Jane's eyes grew wide for a second as she replayed the last of Toby's words. He had asked her if she was busy tonight and she shook her head, not in response to his question, but providing an accurate one anyway.

Seeing the blank look on Jane's face, Toby decided to extrapolate on his sentence a bit more and try to bring her up to speed.

"I'm throwing a party tonight. Nothing big. Just going to have a few friends over and hang out, really. They're all lots of fun."

"Is this still part of your 'bring excitement into Jane's life' project?"

Toby raised an eyebrow quizzically at his rearview mirror before changing lanes, "I…suppose if you want to look at it that way, you could take it that way, sure."

"I have work tomorrow-"

"I don't think we'll be up all that late, if that's what you're worried about. And you are more than welcome to come and go as you please. I'd just like it if you meandered on over sometime during the evening and met a few people."

"That sounds," Jane smiled a little. Meeting a few people. "Nice."

"Great!" Toby pulled over into a parking spot by the Jamba Juice on the corner of Vicente. "I think this is as close as I'm going to be able to get you. If there isn't a spot up there, we'll have to go around the bend again. Want me to walk you to your car?"

Jane laughed, "No, thank you. I feel as if you've done enough already."

Glad to see her giving away her laughter so easily, Toby grinned, "Alright. If you say so."

Jane unclasped her seatbelt and hopped out, making a point to show him her jacket and purse. "I've got everything."

Toby rolled down the window as she slowly shut the door, his grin becoming wider.

"Good. I will see you tonight!"

"Bye!"

Jane and Toby waved at each other as he raised the window and pulled out into the street.

The walk back to her car was full of silence, but her mind was going a mile a minute. A party! She first thought about telling Hayley, but wasn't sure if the girl was invited, being Toby's nemesis after all, and Jane still felt uncomfortable about telling her anything in relation to guys as Hayley tended to blow those kinds of things way out of proportion.

Fishing her keys out of her purse, Jane unlocked her car door and dropped into the seat, throwing her purse and jacket onto the passenger side floor. That's when it hit her.

She didn't know where Toby lived.

* * *

_*dramatic music* dun dun DUN. Was anyone going OMG before Jane figured it out? Tee hee. TRANSITION. So, I keep calling it 'automobile' and 'vehicle' because I'm a car-noob and don't have any idea what kind of car Toby drives, but was pretty sure it wasn't a 'car.' It's like a jeep or something? I dunno. I don't pretend to understand cars. I sing in them though! Speaking of singing in cars, if you want to hear the underlying music that I listened to in order to write Toby's singing, go to youtube and search 'Jubilee James Bond Theme.' The video was posted by Landrykp. Go to 0:35 and then put each syllable, including the ones I spaced out, with the guitar part that comes in._

_Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	4. Not The Party You Were Looking For

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. A big THANK YOU to my followers and those who have left reviews. Knowing people are reading is what keeps a person going with this sort of thing. Also, there's alcoholic beverage drinking in the chapter, if that sort of thing bothers you._

* * *

"Shoot! Toby Turner, you idiot!" Toby pounded his hand in frustration on the steering wheel. "Oop, sorry. Didn't mean it, baby." He stroked the wheel comfortingly.

As soon as he pulled away and got down the street, Toby realized that he hadn't said anything to Jane about where or when or gotten her number or anything. Stupid!

Jerking a right turn, Toby knew it was a long shot, but maybe Jane stopped in at the coffee shop to talk to Hayley or something. He took the back streets this time, the faster way, speeding as much as he dared and hoping against hope that maybe Jane's car wouldn't start and he'd be able to drive up and save the day.

As he turned back onto Vicente, Toby ground his teeth together. He didn't even know what her car looked like.

It didn't matter.

As Toby slowly drove past Caffe Luxxe, there weren't any cars parked around it anywhere. The morning rush was come and gone and with it…Jane.

"Dang it!" He berated himself again. Operation Excitement was a bust. He drove home, his James Bond Theme stuck in his head. It didn't bring him quite as much joy as it had ten minutes ago. There was only one thing he could think of doing that might bring his mood up a bit. After pulling into his driveway, he fished his phone out of his pocket, smiling at the 'Audience' sticker pasted on the back, pressing a few buttons, and turning the camera towards the steering wheel.

"Audience? WHA- What are you doing trying to turn my steering wheel to the left, Audience? That's precarious! I'm glad I already had it in park, otherwise we might have pulled into the grass! INTRO of DARKNESS then REDNESS then WHITENESS! So, I officially got a nemesis today…"

. . .

Earlier…

Jane resisted banging her head on her steering wheel, contenting herself with just resting her forehead on it in a moment of despair. Things were starting to look up for a moment. Random chance was favoring her for a day or two. Most of the people she worked with were older, married, and had kids, so she just didn't relate to them on a social level. And because of that, she didn't really tend to get out much. Clubbing wasn't her thing, and getting completely stoned or smashed at a bar with a bunch of strangers didn't appeal to her either. She wasn't outgoing by nature, so she would just sit in the corner and be miserable. Jane still didn't know why Hayley was friends with her, it felt like the girl had it all together, and was the exact opposite of Jane in every facet of life except age.

Just recently, Hayley stopped inviting her to the wild weekend parties she threw almost every Friday night. Most of the people Hayley tried to introduce her to were still acting like they were teenagers, which is how most twenty year olds acted, but Jane was a good seven years older than most of them, Hayley included.

Jane wasn't sure if she had ever been particularly 'wild,' but once she was out of college she noticed that every weekend debauchery just didn't have the same appeal that it once might have held for her. Sure, once in a while it was fun to splurge a bit, but lately her splurging had consisted of late night Doctor Who marathons with a glass of wine and some dark chocolate. And that worked just fine.

Most of the people around her would look at her funny when she would say things like 'Allons-y!' so she kept that kind of stuff to herself. And for the most part was considered a social recluse by those who 'knew' her.

Jane heaved a heavy sigh and stuck her keys in the ignition, not sure what she was going to do when she got home, but positive that it wasn't going to be particularly 'fun.' She pulled away from Caffe Luxxe and thirty seconds later, Toby drove slowly by with the hope of spotting her in the shop.

. . .

"Hey girl, I know it's kind of last minute, and I know you've got work in the morning, but there is a party at my place tonight. Dunno if you really want to come, but I'd love to see you there! Maybe you could invite Toby to come along too!"

Jane pulled the cell phone away from her ear, and clicked the delete button, erasing the voice mail Hayley left her five minutes ago. She hadn't really felt like talking to Hayley, and found herself glad she didn't answer, since it was likely the girl only wanted to talk about Toby and that was exactly the one thing Jane didn't want to talk about at the moment.

She put the phone back down on the coffee table and grabbed for the chip bag next to it, shifting her head up higher on the pillows and stretching her legs as far down the length of the couch as they would go. Reaching for the remote to the TV, she unmuted the volume, but got lost in her thoughts and didn't hear or see much of what was going on.

Hayley probably only invited her again just to see if she could get Toby to come as well. But that wasn't really fair to Hayley, who stayed Jane's friend even at her most anti-social and would still drag her out for a day at the movies or shopping when she really needed it. Maybe Hayley felt like Toby was just an excuse to comfortably ask Jane to come party again. After Jane's last refusal, the third or fourth turn down in the last two months, Hayley hadn't breathed the word 'party,' though Jane felt sure that it wasn't from lack of parties occurring.

Sighing, Jane picked up her phone and sent a text to Hayley.

_"Will it still be okay to come even if it's just me?"_

Jane focused her attention back onto the TV, attempting to catch up on the events in the show.

Her phone beeped and for some reason Jane's heart started to race.

_"Of course that's fine, you silly! Come on over! Things are just startin to heat up :)"_

Oh dear. Heating up wasn't really what Jane was in the mood for, but if she sat here and moped by herself for much longer, she might melt into the couch. Maybe a good mixed drink and distraction could at least get her out of this funk. Doing something crazy worked for her earlier today, maybe it would keep working.

. . .

The loud, booming music and open door let everyone in the nearby vicinity know that this was a party and everyone was invited.

Finding a place to park her car didn't prove to be too difficult, but Jane cringed a little as the bass, cranked up to eleven, grated on her entire body.

Steeling herself and continuing towards the door, Jane found herself in the midst of a large group of newcomers, all of them rapidly funneling through the door and into the low-light, musty aired atmosphere of the actual party.

"JANEY!"

A voice shouted at her over the crowd and its steady rumbling of noise that tried to be heard over the deafening music.

Hayley waded up to Jane, a beer in one hand and a plastic cup in the other, with a slightly buzzed, winning smile plastered on her face.

She linked her arm around Jane's and pulled her through the mass of people.

"It only took you an hour to get here!" Hayley leaned over and yelled into Jane's ear, volume partly because of the extra noise and partly because she already lost her perception of how loud she spoke.

Jane only nodded, remembering that she had to compose herself for just about an hour before being really convinced that coming to the party would be a good idea.

Hayley stopped in her tracks, frown suddenly darkening her features as she noticed Jane's unhappy expression.

"What's wrong?" The words weren't any quieter than before.

Jane just shook her head and attempted to smile in reassurance.

She couldn't smile well enough to convince Hayley.

Hayley snapped her head away, a mission in her eyes.

They stopped by the kitchen and Hayley put down her mystery beverage, grabbing another as her roommate finished the blender and poured the neon green contents into a cup.

Hayley smiled big, waving the cup in Jane's face, "Margarita!"

She continued pulling Jane along, back through the crowds and into her room where she promptly kicked out two would-be lovers who had found their way in and were making out on the bed.

"I feel like I should lock the door, but I'd probably forget where I put the key!" Hayley said a little too loudly, laughing as she deposited Jane on the bed and went to shut the door.

She plopped down on the bed next to Jane and crossed her legs.

"Whoops!"

Part of the green contents of the cup sloshed over the edge and Hayley quickly lapped it up with her tongue before it slid down too far.

"So. What's up?" She promptly passed the frozen Margarita to Jane, who took it and sat staring at it in her lap.

"I don't want to keep you from your guests…"

"Naaah, don't worry about it." She took a swig from the bottle, "They can entertain themselves. Obviously." Hayley rolled her eyes, referring to the pair they caught in her room. "Besides. Something's bothering you and you'd just go off and watch people from a corner all sad-puppy-face-like."

Jane fiddled with the rim of the cup.

"Come on, spill!" Hayley took another swig. "Well, I mean, don't spill. I don't want to have to deal with a green stain on my bed. Not that it wouldn't be the first time!" She laughed, "Take a drink of it. Anything Amy makes is good, you know that. She bartends for crying out loud."

"I can't believe you break out the good stuff for strangers." Jane held up the cup and examined it, sure that there was probably Silver Patron or some other, more expensive tequila located within the beverage.

"Eeh," Hayley intoned noncommittally, holding up her own glass beer bottle to the light in a similar fashion as Jane before laughing at herself and taking another drink.

Jane put the cup to her lips and took a tentative taste. The frozen drink slid over her tongue easily and didn't taste half-bad, Jane admitted to herself.

"Hayley, do I really sound British when I get surprised?"

"Toby's out in the living room waiting for you."

"WHAT?"

Hayley laughed, quickly dismissing the comment by waving her hand at Jane.

"Yes. Yes, you do. But you had a Brit for a dad, for crying out loud."

Jane thought it was a cruel joke, regardless of effectiveness. She had sounded British after all.

"Speaking of the Tobuscus, what's up with him tonight? Too cool to hang out with you?"

"Well…actually he invited me to a party at his place…" Jane trailed off, glancing over at Hayley.

The girl had a funny look on her face, but snapped out of it more quickly than someone who was buzzed should have been able to.

"And why didn't you go?"

Instead of sounding supportive or sad or any other emotion that Jane would have expected, Hayley's words came across as biting.

Jane stared at her cup some more, before answering.

Hayley hadn't taken another drink and stared intensely at Jane.

"Um, to be honest, he didn't tell me where he lived."

Laughter erupted from Hayley's mouth.

"And you let that stop you?"

"Uh, well, yeah. That's kind of important to know."

"Didn't he, like, give you his number or something?"

"No, he forgot that too."

Hayley burst into laughter again.

"And, I mean, I didn't really remember it either. I was just so excited-"

"If that's all it was," Hayley bubbled with giggles, interrupting her, and Jane wasn't sure if they were being forced or not, "Here!"

Reaching under the bed with one hand, Hayley scooped out her laptop and plopped it down on her lap, flipping open the top a little harder than she'd intended and catching the thing before it fell the long way to the floor.

"Why didn't you just get on YouTube and message him?"

Besides the fact that Jane didn't own a computer, which Hayley knew, she didn't have internet hooked up at her apartment. She just never got around to it. Not to mention the fact that she would have to pay for it as well, something she didn't particularly want to have to mess with.

"Don't you think he gets billions of messages from freaky fangirls every day?"

_"What's so wrong with being a freaky fangirl?" _Hayley pursed her lips in irritation, deftly entering her password and opening an internet browser defiantly. She had messaged Tobuscus before. To no avail, true, but still.

"What's so wrong with being a freaky fangirl?"

"N-nothing." Jane distinctly heard the defensiveness in Hayley's voice that time.

She sighed inwardly, knowing that she shouldn't try to provoke Hayley when she got like this, and at the same time knowing that saying anything at all left room for the provocation.

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. All I meant was, even if I could actually get online and message him, who's to say that he would answer back?"

"Well, you didn't try, did you?" Hayley insisted, loading YouTube and then squealing. "He's got his vlog up from today!"

Forgetting everything else, Hayley clicked on the link, "You have got to watch this. He is SO hilarious."

Jane supposed she should see what all the fuss was about this Toby Turner.

Scooting closer to Hayley, who turned the laptop so the two could better look together, Jane took another sip of her Margarita.

The video started in silence, the camera wobbling a bit, looking at what Jane quickly recognized to be the black steering wheel inside of Toby's car.

"Audience? WHA- What are you doing trying to turn my steering wheel to the left, Audience? That's precarious! I'm glad I already had it in park, otherwise we might have pulled into the grass! INTRO of DARKNESS then REDNESS then WHITENESS! So, I officially got a nemesis today…"

"OH MY GOD, HE'S TALKING ABOUT ME!" Hayley's scream of excitement drowned out the next few beats of whatever it was Toby said about her.

It took Jane a moment to let all of the first few seconds of his video sink it. It reminded her very much of his actions the day before when he had filmed the two of them at the coffee shop. After shouting, 'Audience?' he turned the camera of what Jane realized was his phone back at his face. The fact that he held the phone explained all of the wobbling that went on. And the 'darkness, redness, whiteness' was just him covering up the lens. Jane still thought he was weird.

He did have a really nice smile though.

"DID YOU HEAR HIM?" Hayley turned to Jane and grabbed her shoulder.

"I totally heard him, Hayley. That's really cool."

Hayley squealed again, a more high-pitched version of the first one, knowing in the back of her head that Jane didn't understand at all how big of a deal being mentioned in one of Toby's videos was, but not caring in the least at that particular moment.

"TRANSITION." Toby turned the phone around in a circle and Hayley calmed down just in time for the two of them to hear his next words.

"Have you ever told someone that you were having a party, and you, like, really, really wanted them to come, but then you totally forgot to exchange numbers with them and didn't tell them where the party was happening? HAHAHA!" He scratched the back of his head nervously, "Someone told me they did that today. Me? No, it wasn't me. I wouldn't do that. I would feel absolutely awful if I did that! … Okay, well I might have done that. It might have been me. I do feel awful. Gurl, if you listenin' I am SO sorry!"

Jane blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassed about the whole situation.

Hayley practically smashed her laptop shut, cutting off whatever Toby's next words were going to be.

"Well, I shouldn't be gone from the party for too long." And with that, she left.

* * *

_I apologize for the lack of Tobuscus in this chapter :3 Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	5. Coffee Shop Blues

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. So, bestest idea ever, and it's thanks to MistressTrollington. I'd like to implement a bit of a challenge to you, my dear readers, as well as one for myself. Post a review with a word or phrase that is signature 'Tobyism' (that you haven't seen him say yet and would like to, or for funsies one that you've seen and want to see again) and imma try my hardest to implement it into the next chapter._

* * *

Rapid typing. A pause for thought. More typing. The typer hit send and the message flew across cyberspace from one YouTube account's message box to another account's YouTube inbox, appearing there in hardly any time at all…

. . .

_"Hey Toby! This is Janey from the coffee shop. I'm really sorry about not asking for your number the other day. I wish I had gotten to go to your party :( Hopefully you'll see this message, though, and get in contact with me. :3 I'd love to see you again!"_

. . .

_"JANEY! I'm so glad you found me! Good Lord, I'm SO sorry about the party thing, gurl. It was a fail of episcosity the likes of which have never before been seen! I should have told you were it was at or given you my number or something. It's not your fault at all, don'chu go believin' that! I can't believe I was so absentminded! Operation Excitement was a bust, huh? I can't believe I screwed it up. Forgive me?"_

. . .

_"Forgive you? There's nothing to forgive! :D It's all water under the bridge. If you want, we could exchange numbers now so that it doesn't happen again!"_

. . .

_"Oh, well, I'm actually pretty careful about that kind of stuff on the internet. It wouldn't be that hard for someone to be watching my messages or something. Not everyone out there is as nice as me! Tell you what, if you'll let me buy you some exciting coffee again, I'll give you my number and invite you to another party. What do you say?"_

. . .

_"That sounds awesome! I'm totally there! When and where?"_

. . .

_"Well, I think the usual place at the usual time would do just fine, gurl! When is your next day off?"_

. . .

_"Actually, it's tomorrow! Will that work?"_

. . .

_"So soon? Do you just work one day and then have like five off? Haha! Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."_

. . .

_"Alright! That sounds so cool! I'm super excited!"_

. . .

Another boring week at a boring job in her boring little world.

Jane sighed, trying to take solace in the familiar surroundings that were Caffe Luxxe. She stretched her legs out underneath her usual table, and put her hands behind her head, unable to concentrate on the book she brought to read. It sat in her purse untouched for the last fifteen minutes.

Feeling slightly adventurous, she sat in the seat across from the one Toby plopped into a week ago in their fateful meeting, and the change of venue allowed her a rather nice view inside of the coffee shop's large glass windows where baristas looked busy and patrons waited for drinks.

Hayley hadn't said two words to her since the party, and normally that wouldn't bother Jane, the two of them could go several days without having contact when suddenly one or the other would start up a text-conversation again, but… those night's events were strange.

Going back through last week's Half-Buzzed Hayley encounter did not prove a pleasant endeavor and Jane frowned. Everything the girl said or did that night seemed forced, and after her abrupt exit, Jane decided that leaving the party was probably her best choice.

She stuck her spoon in the mug sitting with innocence on the table and stirred at her coffee absently, deep in thought.

Hayley couldn't be…jealous of her, right? That was stupid. Jane didn't even really know this Toby guy. Besides, Hayley was officially Toby's arch-nemesis. How cool was that?

And yet, something about the whole thing still nagged in the back of Jane's mind. It was the only logical solution she could come up with for the younger girl's out of the ordinary reactions.

Heaving another sigh, Jane looked forlornly towards the table and chairs her and Toby sat at last week. She hadn't felt brave enough to sit there again.

After the run-in with Toby and the subsequent coffee…date, Jane had to finally start calling it, since that's really what it had been, Jane found herself transported back into a rather dreary world, full of mundane, day in and day out routine from which she lacked the courage to break.

Within twenty-four hours, Toby had zoomed in, shuffled everything she knew to be true of herself around, and then winged off into the distant somewhere, never to be seen again. After that, she found herself unable to take comfort in routine as she always did up until that point. Her heart longed for some sort of adventure to sweep her off her feet once more.

She didn't blame Toby for her sudden perception of the daily grind, though he was the one that very quickly and accurately pointed out her need for habit. Blame indicated resentment and she felt quite the opposite. So, how could she blame him at all?

Amidst her gratefulness aimed at the slightly awkward man, Jane wistfully wished he would appear.

Exciting moment, indeed.

Taking the last dregs of her Testa Rossa in one fatal gulp, Jane collected her things and stood up, cup, saucer, and spoon in hand to return inside the shop.

The door dinged cheerfully like always and a couple of the baristas looked up, one returning to their work and the other coming towards her with a big smile.

"How was your Testa Rossa today, Expert?" The older gentleman took the dishes from her.

"As wonderfully strong as always, Charles."

"Plan on being here tomorrow?"

"Like clockwork."

Charles laughed as he turned to take the dishes to the back and Jane smiled at him from behind, standing in place for a beat before shaking her head and going back towards the door.

. . .

A week passed rather uneventfully for Jane. Work, home, food, sleep. Rinse, repeat. Work taxed her especially hard and by the time her next day off came around again, she found herself promptly at the door of Caffe Luxxe at 7 am, feeling a little bleary-eyed and not in the mood to enjoy her morning coffee from anywhere but her couch. The only problem? No more coffee in the house and she didn't have the energy to run out and get some yesterday after getting home from work.

Opening the door, bell ringing overhead to announce her arrival, Jane stifled a yawn.

"You look like you've come to the right place!" Charles stood behind the counter, smiling and waiting for her. "Want me to whip up the usual for you?"

Jane nodded, finally giving into another yawn and hiding it behind her hand.

"But, can I get it to go this morning?"

Charles grabbed his heart, face full of shock, "What? To go? Since when?"

"The morning seems just a little too cheerful to enjoy from anywhere but home."

Laughing, Charles turned away to prepared her Testa Rossa to go. His expert hands swiftly moved around the counters behind the register and while Jane normally enjoyed watching the show, today she sat down in one of the awaiting chairs and absently stared out of the window.

Moments later, Charles tapped her shoulder gently and placed the covered paper cup down in front of her.

"Thanks, Charles." Jane pulled her wallet out of her purse and handed him a bill that she knew more than covered the expense.

"Let me just grab your change." He took the money and turned to the cash register.

"Don't worry about it." Jane took the lid off of the cup and watched the steam rise from it, taking a deep whiff of the aroma.

"Why, thank you, lady! I hope you have a great morning!"

"You too, Charles." Too tired to really think about anything, Jane sat in the chair for a moment, fascinated with the steam as it curled away from the top of the open drink. Blowing across the surface of the beverage, Jane took a sip.

Charles knew that she liked her coffee to start out a little bit cooler than the average person and she wasn't disappointed this time. Whatever magic he usually employed to make her drink cooler still worked. It was almost cool enough to drink straight up.

Jane stood after replacing the lid on the cup, hiked her purse up higher on her right shoulder and grabbed her coffee with the other hand.

Jane waved at the staff as she headed towards the door.

The bell rang again as she made her exit and she stopped for a moment as it shut behind her, taking in a deep breath of the morning's air.

She didn't notice the person come charging around the corner with their head down. They didn't see her either.

She did notice when her left hand holding the coffee got smashed into her chest, the lid popping off the top as she squeezed the cup reactively.

Needless to say, the hot coffee went _everywhere_.

"Good LORD! I am SO sorry!"

Jane dropped her purse from her shoulder as fast as she could, stripped her blouse off over the top of her head with her free hand, silently thanking her luck that she layered her clothing with a light, spaghetti strap tank that morning, and shoved the paper cup and what remained of its contents at the man looking speechless and panicked next to her.

Her exposed collar bone throbbed as a breeze picked up, the area right below that, above her chest, red and angry looking.

Whipping the blouse the rest of the way off of her arm, Jane quickly mopped up what bit of coffee got through her blouse with the now stained piece of clothing, conscious of the painful ache heating that area as well as her left hand and part of her arm.

"That looks like it hurts, Janey."

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time I've dumped coffee all over myself and I'm almost positive it won't be the last." If the coffee had been at its usual temperature, Jane was sure that the burns would be much more severe than they were.

Suddenly, Jane recognized the voice of the man next to her.

"T-toby!" For once, she almost felt glad that a large area of her skin looked burned because the feeling quickly spread to the rest of her exposed skin in a massive blush that she hoped he wouldn't notice.

"Hey. I've missed that accent." He grinned sheepishly, "I'm really sorry about running into you like that."

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. This is our usual meeting place after all." She felt flustered and defensive, completely embarrassed to be standing next to him wearing such a flimsy top.

Toby got a funny look on his face.

"Yeah…" He trailed off, as if he wanted to say something, but thought better of it and slowly started to take off his zip hoodie, black this time, transferring the cup from one hand to the other until he pulled it off.

In the meantime, Jane bent over to pick up her purse and when she stood back up, Toby carefully placed the hoodie over her shoulders.

"I didn't get you back here, did I?" He paused for a moment in the middle of putting it on her, leaning back to see if there were any tell-tale red splotches on her neck.

"No, I don't think you did." Jane stood very still.

"That's good." He draped the hoodie over her shoulders and she pulled it as close to herself as she dared, putting her right arm through the sleeve.

"Thanks."

"I could give you my shirt too, if it'll make you feel better." He started to pull up the bottom of his shirt, contagious grin on his face.

Jane laughed nervously and waved her hand at him to stop.

"N-no. No, that's okay. The hoodie is fine." She felt herself blushing again.

"Least I could do." He shook the mostly empty coffee cup at her ruefully. "Would you like another cup? I feel like I owe you one for that mess."

"You should pay better attention to where you're going." Jane teased him, cradling her left hand closer to her chest.

Toby laughed, "You know, I thought I had a suspicious-looking girl following me."

"One of those mob members? You really shouldn't be walking around here during the day. Seems like it's hazardous to your health." Jane didn't know why she felt like teasing him. Maybe because the thought of him removing his shirt shook her up and to pay him back for it, unmerciful teasing was called for. "Since it happens so often, I don't understand why you haven't abandoned this street altogether."

"It's the street I met you on. How else was I supposed to find you?"

The door behind them dinged before Jane could react properly to Toby's question and Charles stuck his head out, an overly-concerned expression on his face.

"Is everything okay out here? One of the other baristas came and got me from the back, saying something about a run-in and possible burns from the coffee."

Toby spoke up first, "Actually, my good man, there is in fact something gravely amiss. This here coffee cup's contents just got needlessly splattered across this young patron's chest." Toby swiped the lid from off the ground and handed it and the mostly empty cup to the older barista.

Just as Charles took the items from Toby's outstretched hand, a lone, girly shriek rose up from the street behind them. Two or three more followed, as if answering the call.

Toby froze in place, the muscles in his arm tightening and his eyes growing wide with fear.

The hunt was on.

Jane immediately recognized the pitch, flashed as winning of a smile at Charles as she could manage and started to dash away, reaching behind her with her uninjured right hand to grab Toby's, frozen in midair. She clutched at the hoodie over her left shoulder and cringed through the pain of the burns on her wrist and fingers

"What do you want me to do about this?" Charles called out, holding up the paper cup.

Toby seemed to snap out of his daze for a moment as Jane pulled him away, "Her next one is on me!" He waved wildly, excited grin slapped across his face.

Charles nodded in understanding and calmly went back inside the store.

"Where are you taking me?"

"We used your car for escape last time, time for me to return the favor." Still smiling, feeling a lot less foolish than she had the first time she couldn't stop grinning around Toby, Jane pulled Toby forward towards the passenger side of her car, which she had parked right outside the Caffe Luxxe's door that morning, and let go of his hand.

Jane reached into her purse for her keys.

The shrieks were multiplying and getting exponentially louder every second. But Toby and Jane were only a few feet from her car.

Clicking the fob's unlock mechanism as she ran around to the other side of the car, Jane jerked the driver's side door open.

"Get in!"

Toby didn't have to be told twice.

He practically ripped the door open and scrambled inside, slamming the door behind him and pulling the seatbelt over his shoulder, mashing it into the receiver on the other side of the seat. He knew that the girls only got louder the closer they were to catching him.

The car muffled the sound of their shouts a bit, but his heart still rang deafeningly in his ears. He felt more excited now than fearful.

Jane slid her key into the ignition and turned it, pulling her seat belt down over her burns as soon as the car started, wincing as the belt clicked in place. Still having her purse over her shoulder underneath the hoodie made reaching for the steering wheel awkward, but there was no good, quick way to pull down the hoodie off of her arm to set it free, so she dealt with it, throwing a searching glance over her shoulder and flipping her blinker on to pull into traffic.

The opening was there if she took it that instant and she did, jerking the wheel to the left, glad no one parked in front of her.

As they pulled away, both Toby and Jane plopped against the back of their seats, peeking at one another in surprise at the mutual relief for a second before bursting out into laughter, the tension of the moment passing.

* * *

_More Tobyness to come! Don't forget to post a word or phrase in a review! You could PM it to me if you'd like as well. Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	6. To the Apartment!

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. Classes started a couple of weeks ago, hence the complete stop of updates. Chapters will be slow from now on, I expect, assuming that my muse doesn't smack me with a random flash of inspiration. He's done that before. But don't wait up for it. I'm tentatively considering using this story for NaNoWriMo next month, as it would be good incentive to continue writing on it, but I'm going to be so busy... sigh. Anyway._

_When we last left off, Jane and Toby hopped in Jane's car to escape more rampaging fangirls…_

* * *

"Here, let me help you with that." Toby leaned over to Jane, "That looks a trifle uncomfortable there, little lady!"

Sneaking a quick glance from the road at Toby as he reached towards her, Jane realized he meant to relieve her shoulder from having to hold her purse.

She gritted her teeth and pulled her left hand away from where she cradled it close to her chest, putting the heel of it on the steering wheel and moving her knee up to help keep the car's direction steady.

As she lifted her right hand away from the wheel, Toby reached behind her and carefully pulled his black zip hoodie off of her left shoulder while she wiggled around a bit and leaned forward so he could get part of it out from behind her.

Giving the sleeve a gentle jerk, Toby helped slide her right arm the rest of the way out of the hoodie and then helped remove her purse from her shoulder as well.

"Thank you!" Jane exclaimed gratefully, moving her arm around in its socket for a moment.

"No problem, gurl, not a problem at all." He placed the purse between them on the center console, carefully folding a sleeve of her stained blouse that hadn't quite made it down inside the purse where Jane shoved it in their hurry to leave, and leaned back over into his seat, resting his elbow on the bottom of the window, putting his hand in his face and watching the streets go by.

Jane wiggled around for a moment more to try and move the hoodie down a bit where it had bunched up behind her back, and then she rested against the seat, finally comfortable.

"So, uh," Toby scratched his eyebrow, "I realize that kidnappers don't usually reveal this information, but where exactly is it you're taking me."

If the opportunity had presented itself, Jane would have slammed on the breaks and turned right back towards Caffe Luxxe, where she figured Toby parked.

"Actually," Jane chuckled nervously, getting into another lane in order to turn around, "I just kind of went on auto-pilot. I need to change my shirt and that's something I'd do at home, so the car is pointed in that direction. Sorry. Your car is back at Caffe Luxxe, right?"

"Aw shoot, don't worry about it. I've got a smidge of free time. You can just take me back once you get changed."

"If you're sure, then I'll keep going." Jane switched back into the lane that would take her to her apartment like originally planned.

"Oo! Before I forget!" Toby leaned forward and stuffed his hand in his back pocket, whipping out his phone. "Your number! If you please!"

Jane recited it for him.

"There! Just sent you a text!" He put the phone back from where he pulled it.

Jane's phone beeped.

"And you've just received it. Wheew! We are in business now, gurl!"

Jane chuckled and shook her head at him.

Toby felt his mouth turn upwards in a smile as he looked over at her. His plan of running into her at the coffee shop totally worked this time. And now they had exchanged numbers too! Perfect!

He grimaced a bit at the burns on her hand. He hadn't meant to run into her quite that literally.

"Are you going to be okay?" Toby wanted to know, nodding his head at her hand.

Jane lifted the burned hand and inspected it as closely as she could without taking too much attention away from traffic.

"It's swelling a bit, but I don't see any blisters."

"That's good, right?"

"We'll have to see. Burns can get much worse in the first forty-eight hours. I don't think I'll need to go to the hospital, but there's always that chance."

"Good lord, Janey!" Toby suddenly felt very worried, "I didn't mean to run into you like that! I mean, I meant to run into you, but not like THAT."

Jane cast a suspicious look in his direction.

"Have you been stalking me?"

Toby shifted his eyes in mock-nervousness around the car.

"Maaaaaybe."

"You know that most people find that to be creepy."

"What about you? Are you most people?" He prodded her shoulder.

"Hm." Jane made a show of thinking about it. "I guess…I don't. But only because you're so dang attractive."

Toby threw his head back and laughed loudly, "Why thank yew, gurl! You're not that bad looking yourself!"

Jane blushed at the compliment, but felt braver just by being around him.

"So, what was up with not being at the coffee shop two weeks ago, hmmmm?" Toby crossed his arms. "Decided to ditch on your day off?

Jane thought back.

"I was at the coffee shop when you were."

"Nu-uh!" Toby shook his head, "I was there. And you weren't."

"Are we talking last week or the week before? Because the week before is when we first met. And last week I didn't see you there at all."

Toby looked confused for a moment and opened his mouth once to say something, but then closed it instead of speaking, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"My days off are Mondays and Tuesdays and I'm always there at 7 a.m. like clockwork." Jane shrugged. "If you tried to catch me last week, I left earlier than I usually do, so we might have just missed each other."

"Nevermind. Don't worry about it."

Toby fell silent for a bit, and Jane felt it wise not to bother him. He seemed troubled by something.

Once Jane turned on the street of her apartment, Toby perked up again.

"Hey! I know this place! We're not far from my house!"

"Really?" Jane seemed surprised.

"Yah, really! I'm, like, two blocks thattaway!" He pointed to the left. "Or…is it…thattaway…" He crossed his arm over the first and pointed in the opposite direction.

Jane laughed as she pulled up into a parking spot and started to climb very carefully out of the car, throwing her keys into her purse on top of the blouse, and grabbing for her jacket and purse with her right, uninjured, arm. She heaved the purse up to her shoulder as best she could with one hand after locking the doors and getting out of the car.

Toby still looked contemplative as he exited the car and when he got out he turned in a slow circle, facing back to the front towards Jane's apartment building.

"That way. Definitely that way." He pointed behind him and nodded assuredly as he looked up the façade of the building.

Starting to walk towards him, Jane held her left shoulder up at an awkward angle and Toby raised an eyebrow at her, a grin starting to creep onto his face.

"Don't look at me like that." Jane grumbled good-naturedly. "Help." She kept walking towards him and he moved forward to meet her halfway.

"Uh…" Toby moved his hands up to her shoulders and then stopped, "I don't know what I can do without hurting you."

Jane felt the hoodie start to slowly slide off her shoulder, as she feared it would.

"Well, if you don't want your nice hoodie to fall on the dirty pavement, I would suggest lifting it straight up off of me."

A look of deep concentration, purely theatrical in nature, adorned Toby's face as he methodically moved his hands closer to Jane.

"I'm afraid of hurting you more."

"I think I'll be okay, just grab it before-" Jane gasped as gravity pulled the hoodie off faster, having managed to nearly slide it off of her shoulder.

Snatching the hoodie out of mid-air, Toby held the article of clothing up to the air triumphantly.

"All hail the Mighty Tobuscus! Conqueror of all he sees!" He bowed to the invisible coliseum he imagined around them.

"Dork." Jane shook her head and turned away, nose in the air, to begin the climb up the metal staircase to the second floor.

The grin on Toby's face was in full bloom as he felt satisfied with the humor in Jane's eyes when she turned.

"Are you coming or not?" Jane leaned over the side of the railing and looked down at him, resting for a moment and trying not to cringe through the pulsing pain that originated from the various burned areas on her upper torso.

"Fair lady!" Toby now held the hoodie up as if in offering to her. "I have conquered this devilish piece of clothing for you! May it never give you grief again!" He unceremoniously threw it on the ground and stomped on it with one foot triumphantly.

Jane turned forward to face him, burned hand held close to her chest, leaning her good arm's elbow, jacket in hand, on the railing and putting her cheek in her hand, attempting to look as bored as possible.

"Yes, yes. Good work, wonderful gladiator. Your efforts will be praised for many moons to come." She waved a hand dismissively at the champion.

The monotonous line sounded perfect and Toby knelt to the ground in response, crossing one arm over his chest in a salute and bowing his head.

"Your words are much too kind for this poor fighter-"

"Ow!"

Toby stopped his monologue and snapped his head up at her exclamation of hurting, swiping up his hoodie as he quickly got to his feet. He saw a hunched over figure stop two stairs passed where Jane stood, her good hand clamped in agony over where the burns on her other arm stood out excruciatingly red on her skin and her face contorted into an expression of pain.

"I'm s-so s-sorry, Miss Jane!" The sniveling, nerdy looking shorter man started to back down the stairs slowly. "Are you a-alright? I didn't see y-you there!"

Given that the box in his arms nearly reached the top of his oversized, coke bottle style glasses, Toby actually thought this guy might really be telling the truth.

"I'll be fine." Jane spoke back to him through gritted teeth.

The man made a noise of discomfort and blinked twice at her before he whipped around, running down the rest of the stairs as quickly as he could manage, items in the box making a lot of racket. He rushed to his car and Toby briskly made for the stairs, watching the strange male lean the box against his beat up car's driver-side door and fish into his pockets for the keys, jingling them nervously as he found the right one and pushed it into the lock.

Toby made it to the stairs at this point and walked up to Jane.

"Well, he seems like an interesting fellow."

"And makes an even more interesting neighbor." Jane commented, pain subsiding a bit.

"I feel like asking you if you're okay is a dumb question. Are you okay?"

Jane blinked once or twice in a similar manner to the guy who had pulled out of his parking spot and now tore down the road in a hasty retreat before turning her head towards Toby.

He shrugged, grinning widely at her, "I like asking dumb questions sometimes."

Sighing and shaking her head at him, Jane backed off of the railing and started up the stairs again, Toby following this time, turning left after reaching the top of the flight, and walking all the way down the front of the building to her apartment on the end.

"So, this is his place, huh?" Toby stopped in front of her neighbor's door and crossed his arms.

"Stan? Yeah." Jane said absently, holding out her arm and looking into her purse, seeing her keys, but wondering how she was supposed to get them out. "Hey, you. Come 'ere."

"Who me?" Toby quickly glanced around to make sure he was the only one standing nearby.

"No, the guy behind you."

Toby whipped around. "Oh, him! Yeah, he's pretty good with stuff."

There wasn't anyone there.

Jane sighed, "Toby, could you help me?"

"Oh sure, gurl! Whatchu need?"

She held out her arm as he came closer, indicating the purse hanging on it with her head.

Toby grabbed her jacket from her hand.

"Not thaaaat." Jane said, exasperated, "The purse. Grab my keys, would you?"

Toby held his hands up defensively, "Never look into a woman's purse. First man rule of men."

"Without her permission." Jane corrected. "Though you've already stuck your hand in mine once already." She blew raspberries at him.

Laughing, Toby stepped closer, "Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I? But I didn't look! I promise!"

"My keys are right on the top."

Toby made an awful grimace of a face as he reached his hand inside her purse, turning his head slightly away as if in pain and conveniently digging underneath her blouse and managing to completely miss the location of her keys.

"No, doofus, right there. Seriously, look." Jane watched as he hand floundered around doing nothing for a moment before he leaned forward and glanced inside. "They're on top of my blouse."

"Oh! Well, that's silly!" He pulled the keys out.

"Thank you." Jane said shortly, plucked the keys delicately from his fingers and swirled away to her door, fiddling with the keys for a moment before selecting the right one and unlocking the door. She promptly swung the door in as wide as she could and stepped in, slipping her shoes off by stepping on the backs of the heels and nudging the pair to the side, moving out of the entryway to let Toby have room to come inside.

Jane deposited her purse on the bar counter, scooting in the two stools so they would be more out of the way and grabbing for the stained blouse.

"Hang my jacket on one of those hooks on the right side of the door, would you?"

Not hearing a response, Jane noticed that Toby hadn't followed her inside.

She walked back and stuck her head outside the door, "Waiting for an invitation?"

"Uh, yeah!" Toby seemed distracted and Jane caught him still looking at her neighbor's doorway.

"Well, come in." Jane popped back inside as she saw him moving her direction. "Hang my jacket on the right side of the door on a hook, if you don't mind. And take off your shoes." Jane added as she stalked back to the bathroom, "Make yourself at home."

Toby nodded, though Jane didn't see it, and he obliged her requests about the jacket and shoes, finding an empty hook and pushing his shoes against the wall next to hers. He nearly slipped on the tile in the entry way, but made it safely to the fluffy brown carpet.

"You have the best floor!" Toby called out, taking a couple of trial hops from one foot to the other. It squished pleasantly beneath his socks.

"Thank you!" Jane called from the bathroom, sounding pleased that he thought so.

Toby took in the rest of the apartment. Living room to the left with couch, coffee table and TV. Kitchen to the right, Jane's purse sitting on top of a bar-counter, counters all the way around with only a refrigerator, next to the bar, sink, in the corner after the fridge, and oven, in the middle of the far wall, interrupting the counters. There were cabinets in all available space above the counters. He tossed his hoodie on top of Jane's purse, certain that it wouldn't be forgotten in such a place.

He slid into the kitchen experimentally, appreciative of how slippery the tile was, and made his way to the microwave, hanging out between cabinets, over the oven and stove top. He pressed the button to release the microwave door just because he could and slammed it shut again after looking inside.

"What are you doing in there?"

"N-nothin'!" Toby grinned, sure that Jane wasn't really going to be curious enough to check on him.

Sliding back across the kitchen, he stomped his way to the couch and hoisted himself over the back of it, plopping satisfactorily onto the cushions, pulling a pillow he landed on out from under himself.

The couch was pretty comfortable.

Now curious as to what Jane occupied herself with doing, Toby left the couch and walked down the hallway which lay across from where the door of the apartment sat.

He quickly became distracted by come dark curtains at the very end of the hallway and on silent-socked feet, he tip-toed past two doors, one on either side of them, without so much as a glance in their direction.

Peeking behind the curtains, he became slightly more courageous when he realized the curtains only covered up a sliding glass door that led out onto a balcony. There were a few potted plants on the grey cement lining the railing and a table and chair for one set up outside.

Realizing now that there were still two doors to investigate, Toby spun back, crouched once again in ninja mode, and stalked for the one on his left.

Toby leaned his head passed the door frame, peering through the slightly open door, and only took a short glance at the room before pulling back. It was Jane's bedroom. He didn't want to intrude. He stood up straight and turned around to the other door, swung fully inward and allowing clear view into the bathroom, where Jane stood shirtless in front of the sink and mirror. She glanced up from her burns into the mirror and caught Toby staring at her.

* * *

_Muahahaha! I love cliff-hangers. Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	7. Burns and Other Matters

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. You're lucky. My Muse smacked me upside the head with a couple of things. Ha! As if you didn't already know, I have no idea if apartments like the one I described as Jane's actually exist near where Toby lives. Then again, I have no idea where Toby lives either so…I'm just going to deal with it. And, by proxy, that means you have to as well. _

* * *

"When I said, 'make yourself at home,' I didn't exactly mean 'come watch me while I attend to my wounds.' " Jane raised an eyebrow wryly at Toby's reflection in the mirror, her heart starting to bang wildly in her chest.

While somewhere in the back of his mind, Toby made note of a wicker hamper by Jane's foot, over the side of which her coffee-stained blouse lay next to her discarded tank top, the last thing on his mind was the clothes she currently wasn't wearing or even the yellowish color of the wicker. He didn't even notice at all how extremely British her witty comment sounded, her accent betraying how flustered she felt.

"Or is it that you always run into girls and make them spill coffee down the front of their shirts just so you can watch them apply burn medicine to their lusciously red-tinted bare skin?"

More British.

Jane pushed the bottom right corner of the mirror with her finger, releasing the mirror's catch and revealing a small medicine cabinet behind where she very deliberately placed the now closed bottle of burn medicine she had up until that moment been using. She gently pushed the mirror shut, not surprised to see Toby still in the reflection.

Jane faced him, seeing in his eyes that part of his brain had shut down. If she hadn't been the object of his ogling, she might have found the situation at least slightly amusing. As it was, the entirety of her exposed skin felt hot, and not from her burns.

Silently taking a deep breath in through her nose, Jane moved forward and stopped in front of Toby, putting her hands on her hips and looking him square in the face.

To his credit, his eyes stayed locked on the mirror, which unfortunately gave him a nice view of her back again…

"Can I get by?" Jane asked after a beat.

"…um…"

Using her right uninjured hand, Jane pushed gently on Toby's left shoulder, moving him towards the living room and out of the doorway.

His legs finally started to work and he quickly scooted towards the couch, stepping to the front of it and sitting down, eyes staring at the coffee table and hands in his lap.

After he heard a door being shut behind him, Toby managed to shake his head vigorously, attempting to clear his thoughts.

_ "Gawd-dangit, Toby! What are you? Twelve? It isn't like you haven't seen girls in bathing suits with less clothing on!"_

He hunched over and leaned his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his hands and trying to bring up any imagine in his head except for the one of Jane that kept popping up.

. . .

Jane shut the door behind her and would have flung her body onto the top of her bed if she hadn't at the last moment remembered it would probably hurt to do so.

She was just as self-conscious about her looks as the next girl and being practically naked from the waist up, a bra didn't leave much to the imagination, in front of a guy that she already considered attractive, but a tad out of her league, was not going to help her self-imagine issues.

…

He _did _stare though.

Jane tried to suppress a grin.

And it wasn't a stare of disdain.

Jane shook her head in an attempt to prevent herself from going any further with that particular train of thought. Any guy might find himself unable to look away from a woman in a similar state of attire. Or lack thereof.

_"I don't make just any girl spill coffee, Janey. Only you." Toby stepped into the bathroom and put his arms around Jane's waist from behind, careful to avoid any burns._

_ He put his chin on her right shoulder and looked at their reflection in the mirror, staring deep into Jane's eyes._

_ What Jane thought to be just plain brown was actually hazel as she looked back into his eyes in the mirror, she had just never been close enough to tell._

_ Breaking the moment, Toby started to slowly kiss Jane's neck, his full lips parting in a smile as he made his way to her shoulder and-_

Jane shook her head and rapidly started moving over to her closet on the far side of the room.

_"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no."_

The man her brief fantasy centered around was just in the other room for crying out loud! What was she doing? She met him much less than a month ago and for that matter-

Jane continued rationalizing why everything she just thought was a horrible idea as she slid her closet doors open and pulled out a drawer of the chest inside, reaching for the darkest tank top she could find.

The first one she grabbed had to go back in. The neck was too high and would rub against her burns and the salve she meticulously applied moments ago.

Sighing, she settled for one with the neck a bit lower, unhappy that circumstances, that being the weather outside, didn't allow her to appear back in the living room in a large winter coat without fear of scrutiny.

. . .

Finally, images of the latest video game, of which Toby was in the middle of recording his latest play-through, stayed firmly in his mind's eye.

He felt the couch cushions underneath him shift as Jane plopped down on the other side.

Toby quickly sat up, leaning back and tapping his fingers nervously on his knees.

No one in the room said a word for a good ten seconds.

Toby cleared his throat.

"Sorry about-"

"It's okay." Jane cut in, "Really. I'm sure you've seen lots of girls without their shirts on. One is pretty much the same as the next."

Words started pouring from Toby's lips before he could stop them, "Well, now that's not true. I mean, you shouldn't feel embarrassed. You have a very nice body! I mean, that is, uh-"

Jane started laughing at his awkwardness and it made him glad that she seemed able to brush off the previous situation so easily. He started to chuckle a bit himself.

"So, anyway, to completely veer the subject away from my slight discomfort, you have a really nice place!"

"Thank you!"

"And awesome carpet."

Jane laughed again, "I'm so glad that it meets your approval."

Jane bent over her knees, looked down at her socked-feet and wiggled her toes.

"It _is _rather nice, isn't it?" She smiled down at her feet.

Toby watched her for a moment, a small smile on his face. He glanced around the room, feeling as if something was missing amidst all of it.

Suddenly he realized what exactly he felt was missing and became concerned.

In an effort to completely cover up his secret discovery, he dove onto the carpet in between the couch and the coffee table, catching himself with his hands, elbows pointing up to the ceiling, and landing with his head near her feet, closing his eyes and rubbing his face appreciatively on the brown, fluffy carpet.

"Mm. Yeah. This feels niiiiice."

Jane held back a guffaw of laughter for a moment, but when he stopped briefly, glanced in her direction, and then closed his eyes and started again, she couldn't help but let her humor burst out from her lips.

Toby rested his cheek on the carpet and looked up at her, lips parting in a token grin.

Still bent over her knees, Jane reached up and wiped her eyes where a bit of water leaked out from laughing so hard.

"You, hee, have the best expressions." A couple of stray giggles sneaked out as she blinked a couple of times to clear her eyes and found him gazing up at her.

Without realizing it, Jane let out a quiet, happy sigh and Toby's smile did not change, giving no indication of whether he actually heard her or not. Being this close, Jane could make out bits of green in his warm, brown eyes and, startled, she sat up a little quicker than she intended.

"Your phone is falling out of your pocket." Jane motioned over at Toby's backside where his phone peeked out of his back pocket.

Attempting to look over his shoulder without moving from the comfortable carpet, Toby made a grab for the phone and pulled it the rest of the way out, bringing the screen close to his face. What he saw in the corner of the screen only confirmed the concerns he tried to hide a moment ago.

"Do you have a computer around here somewhere? There's a video that I posted that I'd like you to see." He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, guessing from what he had seen of her phone that she didn't have one that would play videos from YouTube on it and silently hoping she wouldn't ask if his phone did. He slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"I don't actually own a computer." Jane admitted.

"Oh, well I guess I could just show you on my phone." He inserted a laugh, "Does your internet have a password?" Toby started to get up and reached back as if to grab for his phone again.

"I don't have internet either."

Suspicion confirmed.

"I guess I could always go to the library or something if I really needed to, but most of my work can be done by hand if it isn't finished at the office."

Suspicion double confirmed. She doesn't really use the internet, even though she could probably easily access it.

"You mean you don't have a YouTube account?" Toby sat kneeling on the floor now and gasped while wearing his best shock-filled expression.

"No?"

"That's horrible! I have three!"

Jane laughed, "I somehow don't find myself surprised to hear it."

Toby looked around the room, finally resting his eyes on her TV. "That's a nice, big TV you've got there. What is it, forty inches? I'd bet you've got some really good video games to play on it!"

"Wrong again, Nostradamus." Jane gestured towards the entertainment system, "Open the doors if you like. There aren't any game systems down there that I know of."

At her invitation, Toby crawled on all fours around the end of the coffee table and sat in front of the doors underneath the TV. Opening the cabinets, he found a DVD player on one side, and a modest collection of DVDs on the other, the most notable of which was several volumes of Doctor Who.

"What do you do for _fun_ around here?" Toby sounded incredulous. "Watch _movies_ or something?" He turned back to Jane so that she would see his smile.

Jane shrugged one shoulder up and down, grinning back at him. "I guess so."

Toby laughed at her and closed the cabinet doors.

As he stood up, his phone beeped at him from his pocket and he dug it out.

Jane got up as well, heading over to the kitchen.

"Gurl, whatchu doin'?" He put the phone back after answering a text and followed her, leaning over the bar.

Jane stopped in the middle of the kitchen, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"You know, I'm not sure. I think I was getting up to grab us something to eat."

Toby looked a bit disappointed, "I would love to stay, but if you would be so kind as to return me to my car, I really should be going. Could I take a rain check on a meal and make it for a later date?"

Date?

"Um, yeah sure." Jane came back around the bar and looked around for her purse before realizing Toby's hoodie covered it. She handed the hoodie over to him and he moved for the door to put his shoes on. Jane grabbed her purse and followed him.

. . .

The ride back to Caffe Luxxe and Toby's car consisted only of playful banter between the pair, as Toby tried to keep an upbeat feel to the conversation. There were many wheels turning in his head, but he didn't particularly want to reveal any of them to Jane at the moment. That time would come later.

Jane found a parking spot near enough to the coffee shop and Toby climbed out of the car, rolling down the window of his door as he did so that, when he closed the door behind him, he could lean over and stick his head inside the car.

"So, feel like meeting up tomorrow?"

Jane gave him a look, "You know that I can't. I have work. Don't you have a job or something too?"

"This is my job!"

"What?"

"Operation Excitement, remember?" He grinned at her. "And playing games. Playing games is my job."

Jane just shook her head and sighed, "You're such a noodle."

Toby got a strange look on his face.

"I'm a what?"

Coughing into her hand to nervously clear her throat, a blush creeping up her cheeks, Jane answered, "A, uh, noodle. My dad used to call me that when I was being particularly silly."

"You? Silly?" Toby's eyes widened at the prospect, but he felt secretly pleased that a word he used so often in his play-throughs was also said by the woman in front of him. "Never."

"Hard to believe, I know." Jane shrugged a shoulder. "You should probably get going and do some of that 'work' of yours."

"Yeah, I probably should." He hung inside for a second longer before stepping away from the car, then just as quickly popping his head back in, "I'll text you, okay? For coffee? I owe you some." He pointed a finger at her almost accusingly.

Jane nodded, "How can I pass up an offer like that?"

"You can't!" Toby smiled, "Okay, for real going this time. Drive safe, you noodle!" He stepped back again, bending over to wave into the car at her.

With the press of a button, Jane rolled up the window on him, shaking her head but unable to wipe the ridiculous smile off of her face.

Toby straightened after a moment and stood next to the car, waving some more as Jane pulled into traffic and started to drive away.

Turning swiftly, Toby marched his way into Caffe Luxxe.

The bell above him dinged merrily as he went in and while the smell of coffee permeated the entire store, it didn't distract him for an instant from his mission.

The barista at the cash register raised an eyebrow as Toby plunked down a large paper bill onto the counter.

"There is a woman who comes in here most morning for coffee. Her name is Jane."

"Jane. I know her."

The barista at the register stepped off to do something else as an older gentleman at one of the espresso makers overheard Toby's comment and joined him.

"What can I do for you, son?"

"Well," Toby leaned forward, "The next time she comes in to get coffee, I'd like you to serve her something besides the Testa Rossa she will probably order. But don't let her pay for it." He scooted the bill forward towards the opposite side of the counter.

"I think I can arrange for that." Charlie, for this was the barista who remembered Toby to be the one Jane ran into just outside the shop's door earlier, smiled at Toby and picked up the bill, ringing up a number at the register and opening the drawer.

"Please, keep the change. For your trouble." Toby tapped the counter smartly with a finger and started to turn away.

"I thank you, son. Hope the rest of your day goes well."

"You too!" Toby called, swinging his hoodie back and forth happily and waving a hand over his shoulder as he walked back out the door.

* * *

_Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	8. Caught

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. This'll be the last chapter for a bit, I imagine. The Muse has slowed down after this, plus I have performances all this weekend and next for theater and such. Anyway..._

_When we last left off, Jane dropped Toby off at Caffe Luxxe. He promptly marched inside and paid for her next cup of coffee, requesting that it be something besides her usual Testa Rossa..._

* * *

Toby stepped back out into the daylight and heaved a sigh as the door to Caffe Luxxe dinged behind him while closing. He smiled at nothing in particular, feeling satisfied with the continuation of Operation Excitement.

His smile faded after a moment. There was still one little hitch though. One that he intended to very quickly mop up the next time he sat down in front of his computer.

Pushing all mysterious thoughts of somber circumstances to the back of his mind, Toby reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, starting to walk down the street towards his car. He tossed the phone up and down in his hand a couple of times, contemplating a Lazy Vlog.

He pressed a few buttons and turned the camera to face down the street.

"AUDIENCE? WHA- What are you doing walking down San Vicente Boulevard in broad daylight? You know it's dangerous to be caught out here, what are you thinking?"

Toby, of course, knew perfectly well that since about two weeks ago, he had been walking around San Vicente with a very specific goal in mind. And he felt perfectly pleased with himself that it had worked so wonderfully.

"INTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEN WHITENESS. So, I-"

A rogue squeal nearly caused Toby to drop his phone.

Instead of continuing the Vlog, he quickly stopped the recording and took off running down the street.

Not much farther. Car's just over there.

Another scream.

You can make it.

Just get to the car and everything will be hunky-dory.

Two more screams came from his right, and a third from his left.

Toby flew down the sidewalk as fast as his long legs would take him, acutely aware of the fact that there would be no Janey to rescue him from assault this time.

Putting his hand in his pocket to pull out his keys and get the one for his car ready, Toby panicked.

The keys weren't there.

Heart pounding furiously in his chest, adrenalin pumping through his veins, Toby stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk.

Pat each pocket.

Left. Right. Butt pocket. Other one.

Nothing.

_"It's officially panic time."_

The shrieks were joining together now, as if being used to locate others of the pack like wolves.

Toby ran for his car and tripped as he got to the door, banging his knee against it. He desperately tried to wrench the door open, but had no such luck. He peeked in the window and quickly saw that all four doors were locked.

Poop.

Hoping to buy himself some more time, Toby charged down the street away from Caffe Luxxe and the mob.

As he whipped his phone back out, he slid through the contact list as fast as his thumb would let him, reaching a contact he had deemed 'Janeybuscus' and hitting the call button, making a mental note to put her on speed dial sometime in the near future.

Toby put the phone up to his ear and glanced behind him as he ran, unable to see any girls yet, but positive they were back there somewhere. He could still hear them.

"Hello there-"

"JANEY, I am so glad you picked up-"

"You have _not _reached Jane Johnson."

Toby made a frustrated noise into his phone at the voice mail message and hung up before it could continue, redialing the number. He hoped that a second call would be enough cause for concern that even if Jane was one of those people who didn't answer their phone while driving, she would pick up.

No such luck.

_"And today started out so well, too." _Toby thought wryly to himself.

First, he gave Jane what he desperately prayed were not serious burns. Second, he probably embarrassed her completely by accidentally seeing her without a shirt on, even if he did happen to enjoy the view.

And now…this.

Operation Excitement, indeed.

Thinking back, the keys likely came out of his pocket onto the floor of Jane's apartment after he rubbed his face all over the carpet in an attempt to make the both of them forget about their awkward moment. He wished now that he hadn't been quite so vigorous.

If he had any breath to spare, he would have sighed. As it was, he reserved all pathways to his lungs strictly for survival, clutching his phone so tight in his hand that his knuckles were turning white.

It was as he turned the corner that the phone in his hand buzzed and started to ring.

"Uh, Toby?"

Jane's voice sounded angelic and Toby could practically hear the Hallelujah Chorus resounding in his head.

"Janey!"

"Sorry about missing your call. My phone was on vibrate and I didn't hear it buzz while I was in the car. The radio was on."

Toby was shaking his head as Jane kept rambling, but she couldn't see his reassurances that he was just thankful she called back.

"Janey, I have a bit of a problem."

"Are you okay? You sound out of breath."

Toby stopped dead in his tracks as around a mob of girls rampaged around the corner of Saltair Terrace, about half a block in front of him, spilling onto South Saltair Avenue and speeding towards where he stood, squeals of glee filling the air.

"Toby? Toby, what's that noise?" Jane sounded more concerned now.

He whipped around, phone still held to his ear, intending to run back the way he came.

Another group rounded that corner as well and the two packs started to converge on his location.

Toby's feet reacted before his mind caught up, and he shot across the street into the parking lot on the other side of the road like a bat out of Hell, glad that while there were cars coming, none would make him have to slow his pace, but would slow down the mob or at least break them up a bit.

Feeling that their hunt was nearly over, their prey in plain view, the screams grew louder and there was no end in sight as more girls kept coming around the corners Toby left behind.

"…Toby, I just stepped on your keys in front on my couch…"

Toby ran faster than he ever had in his life, continuing to hold the phone up to his ear and almost able to hear the wheels turning in her head over the line. There was a portion of wall at the back of the parking lot that he knew he would be able to vault over and he ran towards it.

Jane's words came faster now, "I shouldn't have left you until you got in your car. They're chasing you right now, aren't they?"

Toby hopped over the wall and started to carefully pick his way down to the next parking lot, having no breath left to answer her with, or even the strength to nod wordlessly, but a large sound-wave of screams washed over him and Jane inferred the meaning for herself.

"I've got my keys, and yours, and I'm out the door. I don't know how long you can keep this up, but I'm on my way."

"Don't. Hang up." Toby breathed into the phone, desperate that his life-line stay with him.

"Okay. I won't. I'm in the car. I've backed out. I'm on the road."

He dashed through the second parking lot, turning left to shoot down South Bundy Drive and following the street across San Vicente, caring not about the honking horns and dirty looks he received. Any mean thoughts passersby had about him were quickly silenced when the humongous group of girls flocked like a murder of crows towards the man that just ran past.

The only sound Toby could hear through the receiver on his phone was Jane's steady breath, and he tried to concentrate his attention on that, attempting to ignore the slow ache starting to spread in his side and the yelling coming from behind him as the two mobs melded into one and chased him down the street.

Just him, and Janey's breath.

Breath in.

Breath out.

Him, and Jane's breath and…

_"Oh no."_

Turning from around the street up ahead of him, a third pack of girls, no smaller than the first and second who had joined together and were catching up from behind, started to charge him.

Sitting almost smack-dab in the middle of South Bundy Drive, Toby did the only thing he could think of doing.

He ran left into the alleyway.

At this point, it was only a matter of time.

As if to drive home the fact that his minutes of running were coming to an end, another group appeared at the far end of the alleyway. He would be boxed in soon enough.

Stopping when he reached the mid-way point between the ends of the alleyway, Toby nearly collapsed on the ground, bent over at the waist and breathing heavily into his phone.

"Toby?"

Toby tried to take in as much oxygen as possible and started speaking with his next breath, "I'm between Montana Avenue and South Bundy Drive. Behind the church."

He lost his breath again and grimaced, grabbing a hold of his side.

"Toby, have you stopped? Are they still chasing you?" Jane, already clocking herself as a few miles over the speed limit, pressed her foot down on the gas, and waited for Toby to catch his breath again.

"Tell Mombuscus. I love her."

"I feel as if you're being slightly melodramatic about this."

Toby shook his head.

"And I don't even know your mother."

"You don't. Understand-"

"Well, well, well."

Toby looked up to see that the two groups had stopped several feet away from him. He could still feel the heat radiating off of their bodies and he felt as if he would suffocate even faster now.

The first group parted and who should saunter out from the human pathway but Hayley herself, looking quite smug and pleased with herself.

Toby's arm holding the phone gave out and hung limply at his side, phone still clutched weakly in his fingers.

She stopped a few feet from Toby and crossed her arms.

"Look what we've caught here, girls."

The girls laughed, a cruel, piercing laugh, none of them acting as if the run did anything to them at all. Not a one of them was bent over like Toby, still trying to catch his breath.

"Toby? Toby, who is that? What's going on?" Jane's voice chirped from the phone at his side.

He very slowly moved his thumb to the hang up button.

"I thought you all were too organized not to have a leader." Toby spoke over Jane, hoping to mask her words. "And it would be you, Hayley. My archnemesis."

He pressed a button and ended the call.

"Calling for rescue, hm?" Hayley tossed her head to indicate his phone, "Too bad no one can help you now."

Toby smiled, showing his teeth, and some of the girls in the pack squealed, others sighing, a couple outright fainting.

"Go get him, girls."

. . .

"Toby, is that Hayley? What's happening?" Jane maneuvered in and out of traffic, trying to keep up her rapid pace.

When she heard absolutely nothing coming from the other side of the phone, she pulled the device away from her ear and looked at the screen.

'Call ended' blinked three times before disappearing.

Jane's worry increased tenfold.

"South Bundy and Montana. Behind the church." She muttered repeatedly to herself so that she wouldn't forget.

She tried not to imagine what condition she would find him in when she got there.

. . .

A parking space freed up just as Jane got to where she thought Toby talked about on South Bundy, there was a back-street just across from her that ran behind a church, and she pulled into the spot quickly, parking, grabbing her keys and phone and dashing across South Bundy, ignoring the horns that honked at her as she did so.

There was a small, one-way street in front of her and she jogged into it, looking left and right and for any signs that Toby had been there.

She dialed his number on her phone as she kept jogging down the alley and put the phone up to her ear, anxious with each passing ring.

In the distance, Jane thought she faintly heard a phone ringing and she picked up her pace.

"…H-hello?"

The voice sounded weak, and Jane heard it not only from her phone, but also from somewhere nearby.

"Toby? Toby, I'm here. Where are you?" She spoke louder than necessary, hoping that he could hear her voice from wherever he was.

"I'm right here. Right- ow."

Jane tripped over something and looked down to see Toby's legs sticking out from beneath the shade of tree. She followed the legs up to his face, contorted into a grimace.

"Toby!" Jane hung up the phone and stuffed it in her pocket, and Toby let his arm drop heavily from his ear, his hand hitting the ground heavier than he wished. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you."

"I can tell." He tried to smile weakly.

Jane moved up closer to his face and squatted down next to him, pushing some of his wild hair out of his eyes. "You look…awful."

The leg Jane tripped over had the jeans ripped off all the way past his knee, which looked bruised and swollen. His other pant leg hadn't been ripped quite as far and he bent it at the knee and rested his foot on the ground.

Both shoes were missing and one sock was gone as well.

A huge chunk of his shirt at the bottom on the side Jane sat was missing, looking like a shark took a bite out of it.

"I was afraid they would drag you off and I'd never be able to find you."

"They usually do. But they had a leader this time…" Toby's voice trailed off.

Jane frowned, "You mean Hayley?"

Toby turned his head away, but it was clear through his silence that her guess was correct.

"Can you stand?" Jane asked after a moment.

"Maybe." He started shifting his muscles around to see what he thought, "Man, I feel sore."

"Probably all that running. You're out of shape."

Toby abruptly stopped moving and glanced over at Jane, who matched him gaze for gaze.

"Janey…" He started to say something, but stopped, working his tongue around in his mouth.

Her eyes sparkled.

"You think this is funny don't you?"

Jane tried not to burst out laughing, "Well…"

"Just admit it. This is hilarious to you." Making the most uncomfortable of faces as he started to rise, Toby took the hand Jane offered and she slowly helped him up.

"It certainly isn't every day that a celebrity gets nearly tackled to death by a huge group of females."

Toby stood up fully and stretched his arms, wincing and dropping them quickly. He favored his banged up knee, the left one.

"It looks worse than it is, I think." He said as he caught Jane bending over to inspect the injury.

"You might be right. You'll still probably need to put ice on it. I really didn't think they would do any bodily harm to you. Besides stealing some hair or something."

"Oh, uh, that wasn't them." Toby scratched the back of his head with one hand in the comical way Jane was starting to associate with discomfort. "I, uh, banged my knee on my car while trying to break in."

Jane got on Toby's left side and took his arms to put it over her shoulders, giving him someone to lean on.

Toby appreciated for the first time Jane being tall enough that this setup worked very well.

The two of them started moving for the end of the alleyway and Jane's car.

"You tried to break into your own car?" Jane said after they walked for a bit.

"Ha, yeah. Kinda. Tried the door and looked in to see if the others were locked." Toby laughed a little as they hobbled along.

"You," Jane poked his chest with the arm that she didn't have around his waist for support, "Are a noodle."

Toby grinned, "No. You are."

"No, you."

"You are."

"No, you."

The two kept arguing as they made their way to Janey's car.

* * *

_Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	9. Pants, Tea, and Minecraft

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. I appreciate all of the continued followers and reviewers even in my leave of absence. November has been one heckuva crazy month. I still don't make any promises about having a regularly updating schedule as the semester isn't over, but hopefully this chapter will make up for me being gone so long, and perhaps the next chapter will be sooner in coming than I think…_

_When we last left off, Jane, on her Rescue Toby mission, finally stumbled across Toby after Hayley's mob roughed him up a bit. Jane got Toby up and the pair walked off towards Jane's car…_

* * *

"Thanks again for coming to my rescue, Janey."

Jane just shook her head and smiled as she held out her hands for Toby to grab. He had thanked her at least twenty times on the drive over to his house, in at least two or three different accents.

Her initial intention consisted of taking him back to his car, but he gave her his best puppy-dog-eyes and wobbled his lower lip a little.

"B-but what if a cop stopped me on the way back? How am I supposed to explain my clothes?" He told her.

Jane finally did agree on the fact that, with his knee banged up, he _would _have a hard time driving, much less getting in and out of his car.

Toby swung his legs over the seat and, using Jane's arms for leverage, managed to pull himself standing.

He closed the car door behind them as he put an arm over Jane's shoulders and she supported his waist.

The burn medication seemed to put her own injuries to the back of her mind and Jane didn't feel the throbbing quite so hard anymore. It helped to have someone else to look after.

As they hobbled together towards his front door, Jane looked at the façade of the house. It was rather nondescript, really. Just one more house on a street in L.A. She never would have guessed driving by that someone like Toby Turner lived there.

When they got to the door, Jane fished Toby's keys out of her pocket and handed them over.

He unlocked the door with his free hand and they crossed the threshold together.

"Greetings, fair household!" Toby shut the door behind them as they stepped into the entryway.

A series of harried barks emitted from beyond their range of view.

"Griffin!" Toby started to squat down, as the little Shih Tzu galloped around the corner, collar clinking, but quickly made a noise of pain and stopped his attempt. "Aw, Griffin, I'm sorry. I can't say hi to you! I got hurt!"

While Jane was not surprised that Toby had a voice for talking to Griffin, she definitely agreed with herself privately that while it sounded adorable, it was the strangest 'pet' voice she had ever heard.

Griffin barked again, his tail wagging.

"I can't come down there. Janey'll do it for me though, won't you Janey?" Toby looked over at her.

"Uh…"

"He's fine. He won't bite. I mean, he does. But probably not you. And it wouldn't hurt if he did anyway. He'd just gum you."

"That's so reassuring."

Toby lifted his arm from over Jane's shoulders and leaned against the wall next to him for support, gesturing down at the dog.

"For me, please. He needs lovins."

Jane sighed and squatted down.

When Griffin didn't seem any more concerned as she got closer, Jane reached out a hand for the dog to sniff.

Obliging, the dog's wet nose touched her fingers, though his eyes were still fixed on Toby.

"Hi Griffin." Jane cooed as soothingly as she could, reaching her hand up and smoothing it down Griffin's head. "How are you?"

"He says, 'I'm good, but who is this pretty lady touching me, Tobuscus?'"

Jane glanced up at Toby to see him grinning at her.

"It's totally true. Look at those eyes."

As if on queue, Griffin looked at Jane, ducking his head a bit as she stroked further down his neck and back.

Toby kept smiling down at the pair as Jane started to talk quietly to the dog. He felt glad they were getting along together so well.

"Now, your dear 'ole master needs to get a change of clothes, so we're going to take him to his room, okay?" Jane started to stand and reached over for Toby.

"My bedroom's over there." Toby pointed off in a different direction of the house, and hobbled a step closer to Jane so that she could easily reach him.

Upon entering the room, Toby very carefully sat down on the bed, removing his arm from Jane's shoulders and stretching his bruised knee out in front of him, grimacing as he did so.

"Could you grab a shirt from the closet and a pair of pants from that drawer?"

"Sure." Jane moved to open the drawer, grabbing a pair of pants at the top of the pile, and then opened the closet.

Griffin followed them and hopped up on Toby's bed.

"Hey, buddy!" Toby exclaimed, finally able to reach him. He mussed up the Shih Tzu's ears lovingly.

She blinked a couple of times, trying to decide if what she saw was an illusion or not. She turned back to Toby very slowly to see him grinning that wide, white-teethed smile at her.

"You. Have shirts. With your gaming name on them."

"I have lots of things with 'Tobuscus' on them."

"And you wear them?"

"All the time!" He replied happily, motioning for her to throw the pants.

She tossed them and turned back, yanking a shirt off of a hanger and walking back to him.

"You could have one if you want!" He indicated the closet full of bright shirts with his head as he started to pull his shirt off. Getting it unsuccessfully about half way off, his elbow sticking through the hole, he whined a bit and pouted at her. "Help?"

Jane rolled her eyes skyward. "Seriously?"

He struggled a bit more, piteously whimpering.

"Yes?" He widened his eyes for his 'pleading' look.

"Oh, those eyes." Jane rolled hers again and stepped forward, careful not to bump his bad knee.

He held his arms up over his head and Jane easily pulled the shirt off, handing him the new one and stepping back to hold the old one up for examination.

Jane looked through the large hole and could see most of the wall behind him.

"How on earth did they manage to do this?"

Toby shook his head, frowning, "You really don't want to know."

"Fair enough."

Shifting his shoulders a bit to settle the material, Toby grabbed for the pants and Jane began to back out of the room.

Seeing her start to leave, Toby made his sad, pouty face again.

"No." Jane held up her arm in front of her face, "Nope. Not helping you with your pants." She kept backing out, turning her head away so she couldn't see his 'Bambi' eyes. "You're going to have to figure that one out on your own."

"Jaaaaaaneeeeeey." He whined. "Mah knee hurts real baad."

"Huh uh." She shook her head and reached for the doorknob to close the door after her. She lowered her arm and flashed him her best smile. "I'll go make us a spot of tea."

"Go with her, Griffin!" Toby patted Griffin on the bottom and the little dog got up off the bed and leapt down to the floor. "I bet you she'll get a treat for you!"

Jane opened the door a bit wider so that Griffin could easily slip through, and then started to close it again.

"Kitchen's next to the living room, gurl!" Toby called, leaning over a bit so that she could hear him as the door shut, "Make yoself at home!"

"Sure thing."

The door clicked shut.

Toby sat staring after it for a moment, a small grin on his face. He had seen her laugh, and liked it, but that smile she just gave… He would have sworn there were sparkles.

He shook his head to clear it as he started to cautiously change pants. He wanted to be able to run to his computer room without Jane knowing, just to double check something, but his knee kept throbbing something awful and he knew he wouldn't be going anywhere soon at a 'run.'

A few grueling minutes later, he stood at his door and opened it very slowly, peeking out the crack. He heard bits of conversation, which he assumed meant Jane decided to talk to Griffin some more, as well as various cabinets being opened and closed.

Sneaking out his bedroom door and down the hall on bare feet, Toby made it to his computer room unnoticed, carefully closing this door almost all the way, but leaving it open a hair so he could hear if anyone came close.

Slipping into the high backed chair, he pressed the power button and bounced up and down a little in impatience as the fans started up in the machinery.

It felt as if the computer took longer than ever to load and as soon as he could, Toby clicked open his web browser and logged into one of his Youtube accounts, fingers flying over the keys.

He ignored all of the notifications and went straight to his messages, finding the one 'Janey' had sent him those couple of weeks ago and quickly opening the last message they exchanged.

_"Alright! That sounds so cool! I'm super excited!"_

Toby hadn't bothered to respond to the message. He thought the entire conversation he held with 'Janey' seemed strange. Too many exclamation points for her personality. And the asking for his phone number sounded odd too.

Now he felt for sure that this was not actually Jane who contacted him. Jane had no internet, no way of getting online easily, and most importantly, no YouTube account.

_"I know you aren't Janeybuscus. And I have a pretty good idea as to your identity, imposter!"_

He clicked the send button, but didn't wait around for an answer. He had a couple of videos he recorded to post and he opened the files and began uploading them.

. . .

Meanwhile, out in the kitchen, Jane hadn't been able to find a proper kettle to heat water in, but a pan worked just as well and as the burner worked the water up to a boil, she snooped around in the cabinets for some tea leaves.

"Do you know where some tea leaves are, mister?" Jane glanced over at the small dog that settled down on his haunches near the edge of the tile of the kitchen, but made no move towards her.

"Well, then do you know where the treats are?"

Ears perking up slightly at the familiar word, Griffin shifted around a bit, but didn't get up.

"I suppose if I got close to those, you would let me know, hm?" Jane closed the cabinet she had been holding open and moved down to the next one.

Unable to find any tea leaves, and what with Griffin not responding to her opening any more cabinets, Jane satisfied herself with some tea bags in a box that she found.

Minutes later, Jane made her way back to Toby's room, getting lost only once briefly, but found that his door stood open and he no longer sat on his bed…

. . .

About half way through the second video loading, Toby saw that there was a new message in his inbox.

_"Toby, hun? What are you talking about?"_

_"Drop the act Miss Archnemesis. I dunno who you thought you were foolin' gurl, but I know Janey and I know that you aren't her."_

_"You think you know my Janey? You don't know anything about my Janey! You stay away from her! And come after me instead, hm?"_

_"Ew! Get with my archnemesis? That's horrible, Hayley! I could never sink so low!"_

_"Zounds! I am discovered! I'll get you for this Toby Joe Turner! I'll destroy you AND Janey both! Muahahahaha!"_

"Toby?" Jane stuck her head in the door.

Toby quickly exited out of the browser, smacking his forehead with the palm of a hand after it closed.

"What's wrong?" Jane came farther into the room.

The second video hadn't finished uploading, so he was going to have to start over later.

"Oh, nuthin' gurl." He spun around in his chair to face her.

Jane raised an eyebrow but didn't prod him any further for details, instead moving towards him and extending one of the mugs of tea she held.

"Oo, what's this?" Toby took it from her.

"You said you wanted some tea." Jane shrugged and brought the second mug she had up to her lips and took a tentative sip. "I found some milk in the fridge and used it. I hope that's okay. It shouldn't be too hot though."

Jane spoke a second too late.

Making a noise of protest, Toby moved the mug away from his mouth and fanned at his tongue, "Uuuh, it'th hot."

Jane privately wondered how often he drank tea.

Griffin trotted into the room, his collar clinking.

"Griffiiiin, the tea is too hot." Toby bent over and held the mug close to the floor.

Curiously, the dog came closer and sniffed at the beverage.

"Blow on it." Toby said.

Griffin snuffled at the drink, but made no move to imbibe.

"Thank you, Griffin." Toby brought the mug back up to his face, his tongue still hanging slightly out of his mouth, but with no visible damage.

Jane watched the entire exchange with a small smile on her face, content to simply be a bystander in the conversation between man and beast, however ridiculous the prospect that the tea was actually too hot seemed to her.

After taking his second gulp of tea, further proof that it wasn't really as hot as he first made it out to be, Toby looked slyly over his mug at Jane.

"What?"

"You don't have a computer, right?"

"Of course not."

"So, you've never heard of the game Minecraft, right?"

"Mine…craft?" Jane said slowly.

The grin on Toby's face grew wider at his sudden, brilliant idea. He carefully stood up from the chair and stepped to the side.

"Your throne awaits, dear lady."

"Pardon?"

"I want to show you something. But you have to be the one sitting in the Almighty Tobuscus Gaming Chair."

Jane looked skeptical, but obliged his gesturing arm and took a seat.

Toby spun her around to face the computer.

"Click on this thingy." He pointed at an icon on the screen.

Jane took the mouse in hand as if it were a foreign object to her and moved over and double clicked the icon Toby indicated.

"Just click on 'log-in,'" He said when the Minecraft log-in screen popped up. "We'll just have you use my user name. Now, click 'Single Player.' 'Create a New World.' Oo, call it 'WorldJaney!'"

"How about Jane's World?"

"That works. Click on 'Create New World.'"

The game took a second to load up the new world.

"Okay! Go!" He gestured forward at the computer screen.

"Wait, what?"

"Go, gurl! Go forth! To the mining and crafting!"

Jane tossed him a slightly perturbed look from over her shoulder, "I think the last video game I played was Gauntlet for the original Nintendo."

Toby's face grew even brighter with excitement at the prospect, "Oo, really?" He started to hobble out of the room, "Use the mouse to look around and the WASD keys to move!" He called out behind him, going towards the kitchen to grab a chair, and dragging it back into the room.

"Are those…jack-o-lanterns?"

"Yup!" He peered over the back of the chair to see what she was talking about before plopping the chair from the kitchen next to her. "Punch 'em!"

"Huh?"

"Click the left mouse button." He laughed after a second, "No, I mean, click and hold it down on top of the thing you want to harvest. … Now you have a jack-o-lantern!"

"What do I do with it?"

"Whatever you want!"

There was a pause.

"Can I wear it?"

Toby laughed again and explained to her how she could put it on her head.

"Woah! That's so weird!"

Her character could only see through the openings on the jack-o-lantern's face.

"Isn't it awesome?"

"It's kinda…retro, isn't it? I mean, if you're playing video games for a living, I would have guessed you'd be all interested in what the Wii or X-BOX has to offer."

Toby shrugged, "Well, the fans like it, for one thing. And I don't just play video games all the time. Just…most of the time."

Jane looked up over her shoulder at him, one eye-brow raised, "Most of the time?"

"Well, yeah I mean- Good LORD Janey! Look out!" Toby pointed frantically back at the computer screen.

An evil-looking green-cube character was running for Jane in the game.

"It's a Creeper! Get away! Get it away!"

"Huh?" An explosion from the speakers drew Jane's gaze back to the computer screen just in time to see it darken as her character fell over. "Wait, what?"

"He 'sploded on you." Toby pouted, unsure how Jane would react. His concern grew when he noticed that her shoulders were shaking, "Aw, gurl, I wouldn't have had you play this if I thought you would take it that hard." He put a hand on her shoulder.

Jane threw her head back in a howl of laughter, "That. Was. Hilarious!"

Toby felt relieved.

"You totally freaked out!" Jane laughed some more, "How do I do it again?"

* * *

_Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	10. A Storm

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience. So, I don't actually know much about Griffin except what you typically see in a Toby video, which…isn't much. Off the top of my head, I know he likes treats (and knows the word), and has a doggie door for going outside. Other than that… I've got nothing. So, you can deal with me fabricating a few things. After all, I AM the writer here, aren't I? Yus._

_I also want to mention that no, I don't have the floor plan of Toby's house memorized, I'm just piecing together what I can remember from random videos I've seen where I wasn't really paying attention. No, I haven't sat down and drawn it out (as if writing a fanfic wasn't creepy enough, amirite?), so forgive me for anything that doesn't make sense. Not that anyone's caring/counting._

_When we last left off, Toby introduced Jane to Minecraft..._

* * *

"Get away from my house! Get away!" Jane ordered as she madly clicked at the Creeper who had slunk towards her cobblestone abode.

Toby laughed as on-screen her character swung wildly with an iron sword at the green enemy , knocking the Creeper back and away from her house.

"I thought you said if I built my house on water they couldn't get to me!" Jane protested loudly as she knocked the monster away a fourth time.

This made Toby laugh even harder, "You should know by now that you should never take my advice on a video game! I'm horrible at them!"

Jane grimaced in preparation for a 'bang' as she fended off the Creeper, unable to form a response.

"There's a reason why some of my older video playlists were called 'Toby Sucks at Gaming."

The Creeper finally fell over and Jane heaved a sigh, sitting back into the tall black chair.

"This game is super stressful."

"But fun, right?"

Jane smiled over at Toby, "Lots. Thanks for introducing me to it."

"Sure thing!"

Quickly moving a hand up to cover her mouth, Jane let loose a yawn.

Toby leaned back a bit in his chair to check the clock. His eyes widened, but as he opened his mouth to say something, he felt the need to yawn as well.

Jane caught him in the act and smiled a little, "How late is it?"

Toby looked guilty, hunching his shoulders over, but saying nothing.

Jane glanced around for a clock, but didn't see one.

"It's…after midnight."

Her eyes grew big, "Oh, wow. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get so caught up in the game, I-"

Toby waved her apology off, "Stop that. I wanted you to play and you did and you had a great time doing it."

"Yeah, but, we were meant to get you back to your car and-"

"Shush." Toby put a finger up to his lips. "No more. What's done is done, gurl."

"Well," Jane stood up, and stretched her good arm towards to ceiling, her back popping in one or two places. "I can still take you back to your vehicle. Surely you look presentable now, hm?" Her burns were starting to itch and she had to forcefully resist scratching the skin.

Toby gave her a lopsided grin and ran his fingers through his hair, "At least my current clothes don't have huge, gaping holes in them."

He noticed her making a strange face.

"Are you…okay?"

She didn't respond for a second.

"My burns are starting to itch something horrible." Jane finally confessed, flexing the fingers of the arm that had been burnt.

"I think there might be some burn ointment in the bathroom cabinet. We can go check!" Toby stood up, but made the motion too quickly. His bruised leg had stiffened while sitting in the chair next to Jane and immediately gave out from underneath him when he arose. He let out a cry of surprise as he fell to his side onto the ground.

"Toby! Are you okay?" Jane pushed both chairs out of the way and knelt over him.

His eyes were squeezed shut in pain and he hissed air out between his teeth, his hands grabbing either side of his banged up knee.

"It just…gave out. I'm okay." He tried to reassure her, releasing one hand from his knee to wave her concern away.

Jane's eyebrows turned down into a frown, "You sat in one place for too long and after all of that running, your muscles are probably going to be really stiff."

"No joke." He bit his lip to keep from crying out again. After a moment, he opened one eye to look at her, "I wasn't kidding about the ointment though. You could go and check if you like. We passed the bathroom on the way in. Just check some of the cabinets. I'll sit here and writhe about all undignified-like in pain and agony as soon as you turn your back."

That pulled the snort of a chuckle from her lips, "Okay. I guess I can do that. I'll be back to help you up in a minute."

Toby kept his one eye open until he was sure she had left the room, then he opened his mouth in a silent scream and let a few noiseless curses loose into the empty air.

Feeling only slightly better, he sat up on the floor, hissing again as his stiff leg still refused to respond.

"Find anything?" He asked as he looked up and saw Jane coming back down the hallway.

"Some Neosporin. It helped a little with the worst of it. Um," Jane trailed off and slowed as she got nearer to the door. "There's…something wrong with your dog."

"Griffin?" Toby called.

Jane stopped short of entering the room as the Shih Tzu dashed in before her, collar clinking. He ran right into Toby's bad knee and stopped, trembling.

Toby let out an uncomfortable grunt, but reached over to his PC and started to turn its power off.

"There's going to be a storm tonight." Toby explained. "He only gets this way when it's going to have lightning and thunder."

"That's sweet of him."

"Yeah, not at the moment." Toby grimaced as the poor trembling dog kept hitting his sore leg.

Jane stepped into the room over Toby and held out her hands.

"Like pulling a band-aid. Do it fast."

Toby didn't seem too sure about it, but he grasped her hands anyway.

Jane waited until it looked like he would get his feet underneath him, and then she pulled up with all her weight leaning the opposite direction to try and get his lithe body off the floor.

His leg gave out again just as he stood up straight, but Jane planted her toes firmly in the carpet and when his body fell into hers, she was ready and the pair didn't tumble to the floor. She winced a little as his chest hit a portion of her burns, but Toby managed to grab her arms for balance and the two stood precariously for only a moment before Jane maneuvered underneath one of his arms, putting it over her shoulders, and supported him with her hand about his waist like they had done earlier that day.

"Thanks." Toby breathed after a second passed.

Neither one of them moved.

"So, uh, where are we going again?" Toby wanted to know.

"I'm thinking." Jane huffed.

"And just what is it you're pondering, hm?"

Jane stuck her tongue out at him, "I'm wondering how exactly you're supposed to drive in this condition."

"Ah." Toby fell silent. "I suppose I do pose a bit of a problem."

"You are a problem, yes."

Toby had to glance over at her face to tell if she was kidding or not.

In the meantime, Griffin whined and laced himself between their feet.

"Oh, great."

"What?"

"He needs to go out." Toby explained. "And he'd better get out now while the gettin's good if it really is going to storm." Toby started to take a step forward, but wobbled and decided against it. "I…almost hate to ask you for more favors at this point, but would you mind going out there with him? He has a doggie door, but I don't think he'll actually go unless he knows there is somebody out there with him."

Jane raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue.

Toby took his arm from around her shoulders and leaned heavily on the black chair.

Waiting to make sure he didn't appear to be falling again, Jane started to walk out of the room.

"Go on, buddy!" Toby moved his uninjured leg just enough to nudge Griffin with his toe. "Go on! Go piddle! Don't want you messing up the carpet tonight, you little biscuit!"

Griffin seemed reluctant, but when he heard Jane flipping light-switches as she went, and finally opening the sliding door, he dashed off through the house and out of his doggie door, into the grass of the yard with his ears flapping out behind him.

Jane laughed as she walked farther out onto the wooden patio floor, looking up at the sky.

The sun had set long ago, but the stars were no where in sight and as she stood there, the wind started to pick up.

Peering out into the yard, Jane saw Griffin running back from doing his business and he completely ignored her as he shot passed.

Jane followed the pup into the house, closing the sliding door behind her.

"Think you managed to turn on every light in the house?"

As Jane turned around, she saw that Toby had made it to the doorframe of the computer room and stood leaning against it, breathing hard.

"Oh, I guess I could manage to find a few more." Just to prove it, and because she felt like being silly, Jane walked over to another set along the wall and started flipping them.

Toby laughed from across the room.

When Jane flashed a grin over him, she suddenly saw the huge TV set up in the living room with its entertainment system and video game consoles and the couch across from it and her mouth turned more circular and surprised in nature.

"Oh, wow."

"Like it, huh?"

"Even if I didn't, it's pretty impressive!" Jane reached to turn off the last couple of light-switches and that part of the room became cast in darkness one more. She began walking back across the room towards Toby. "So, what are we to do with you, mister?"

Toby opened his mouth to say something, but quickly changed his mind, a mischievous expression on his face.

Since he stood with the light from the computer room casting shadows on his face, Jane didn't catch the look.

"Well, gurl, you've done so much already." Toby lifted his arm for her to scoot under as she turned and ducked by his left side when she got close.

Jane chuckled, "It certainly has been a most eventful day."

Toby yawned again, smiling.

"Let's get you to bed." Jane started to walk slowly forward, Toby grimacing with each step they took.

Griffin weaved in and out of their legs as they moved, whining and huffing, obviously quite disturbed.

A crash of thunder reverberated nearby, and the three stopped in the hallway for a moment as they listened to the heavens opening up above them and pelting the house with a raging storm.

"Wow."

"No kidding." Toby agreed.

The pair started off again and when they reached his bedroom, Jane pulled back the bedspread and sheets for him, helping him sit down.

Jane caught him pouting during the process.

"What?"

"I can't let you go out there by yourself!"

Another flash of lightning appropriately lit up the room, followed quickly by thunder that made their hearts cringed.

"I won't melt, Toby."

"Well, yeah but-" Toby fell silent, his face still full of protest.

"I appreciate the concern, but I think I should be more worried about you being okay." Jane's eyebrows knit together and she rested a hand absently on her hip.

Toby sat uncomfortably shifting his legs hanging off the side of the bed.

"I'll lay down. No problem. Just- …not until after you leave the room." He flashed her a winning smile and she rolled her eyes at him.

Griffin whined at them from the door.

"Aw, poor buddy, it's okay!" Toby patted the side of the bed and leaned over as the dog trotted closer to be pet.

"Okay, I'm going to go grab my things and head out." Jane pointed a thumb at his doorway.

Toby threw his arms wide, "C'mere, gurl."

Jane gave him a funny look.

"C'mere. Co'mere!" He grew more insistent, jerking his head that she should get closer.

Taking a careful step towards him, Jane still had an expression of hesitancy about her, but Toby grabbed her into a hug that she returned after an awkward moment, both of them still aware of her burns and Toby resisting making the hug as tight as possible.

He released her and sat smiling, "I just wanted to say thank you SO MUCH for all that you've done for me today, Janey."

"Well," Jane adjusted her clothing after standing back up, "You're quite welcome, Toby."

His eyes sparkled at her, but he didn't comment on her suddenly more pronounced British accent as she moved towards his door.

Up until this point, Griffin had been satisfied with the two humans' close proximity, though he sat trembling against Toby's calf. As Jane turned to leave, his little body tensed and Toby frowned over the bedside at him.

"What's the matter, boy? Huh?" Toby gave the dog's head a scratch.

He felt the dog start to growl and Griffin took off out the bedroom door, barking wildly.

"Toby!" Jane called a few seconds after Griffin disappeared, "Your dog is blocking the front door and I'm afraid he might bite me or something. He's acting funny."

In his room, Toby grinned.

"Good boy." He said under breath, not thinking and starting to stand up.

He hissed a breath in as the sudden movement sent another spike of pain down his legs and he fell back down to the mattress with a plop.

"See?" Toby said back to her, "Even he knows a lady shouldn't step outside unattended this time of night!"

"Very funny." Jane made it back to his room and stood in the doorframe. "Call your dog off."

Toby raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged, "Com'ere, Griffin." He patted the bed beside him.

Griffin, who had followed Jane back, trotted over to the bed.

Toby leaned down and picked up the pup, holding and petting him.

Jane shook her head at them, smiling. "I'll see you in the morning."

Toby nodded, crooning into Griffin's ears.

Jane turned swiftly to get out to her car, dreading the walk to the driveway since she didn't have a coat, but wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible.

As soon as she turned the corner to the front door, she heard a dog tag clinking behind her and Griffin started to bark angrily at her, dashing past her to stand in front of the door and growl.

"To-BY!" Jane protested.

"I'm sorry! I couldn't hold him!"

"Yeah, right." Jane mumbled. "What do I do?" She called back to him.

"Um… Stay here for the night?"

"Not helping!" Jane immediately shouted.

Jane wasn't exactly afraid of dogs, and maybe somewhere in her head she really did want to stay the night and not have to brave the current weather, neither the walk to her car nor the drive to her apartment. She could have just scooted the dog out of the way, he was no bigger than a couple of purses that she owned, but she didn't particularly feel like getting bitten for her troubles either.

She heaved a big sigh and tried not to smile.

"Alright. You win." She said down to Griffin as she walked back to Toby's room with the dog at her heels.

Toby loosed a huge grin at her as she came back into view of the doorway.

"Where are some blankets that I can grab for the couch?"

"Oh no, gurl. You're sleeping right here." Toby patted the bed.

Jane felt her entire body flush at the thought.

"I'll go sleep on the couch!" Toby stood up abruptly, "Ah-ow!" His body stiffened in place and he couldn't move.

"That's very gallant of you, Toby, but I think the injured should sleep on the mattress."

"Never! I'll sleep on the floor if you take the couch!"

"Then I'll sleep on the floor too!"

"You take the bed!"

"You can't make me." She stuck her tongue out at him. "And just for being a pain, you can stand there and think about what you've done before I come back and push you back down."

"Janeeeey!" Toby whined as she left the room to search for extra blankets.

Jane ignored his pleading as she moved for a suspicious looking hall closet. She wasn't disappointed when she opened it to find a pile of blankets, pillows, and even bed sheets. Satisfied with her loot, she took a pile to the couch in the living room, flipping on one light to see.

As she worked to make the couch into a makeshift bed, Griffin huffed around her and the rain continued to pour onto the house outside.

"Janey!"

She looked over her shoulder to see Toby, face contorted in pain, making his way across the hall to her.

"If you insist on sleeping on the couch, I swear I will lie down on the floor and sleep there, gurl."

His knees started to give out and Jane jumped up to grab a hold of him.

"Toby Turner, we are marching your sorry butt back into bed and you are going to stay there until morning, you hear me?"

Toby shook his head, "I refuse to let you sleep on the couch! I will collapse right here! I'll do it!"

Jane's eyes widened as he started to relax his body and she couldn't hold him up.

"Toby!"

He stopped.

"You'll just hurt yourself worse if you sleep on the couch!"

He relaxed again.

"Toby!" Jane protested louder.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "I wasn't kidding. You go sleep on the bed, I'll sleep on the couch. I'll feel really bad if you don't." He pouted at her.

"And if I sleep on the couch, you're just going to park it on the floor, huh?"

He nodded vigorously.

Jane sighed, "It was hard enough getting you off the floor earlier. Are you sure this is the moment you're choosing to be chivalrous for? I would tell everyone that you were the one to sleep on the couch if it meant preserving your honor!"

Toby shook his head. "Nope! Not the same. Now, put me down on the couch."

He started to move forward, and Jane made noises of protest, but felt forced to follow his whims as he led her to the couch.

Getting there first, Toby started to sit, one arm still over Jane's shoulders. The fall was farther than he remembered, and he ended up pulling Jane down with him.

He laughed to try and ignore the pain that shot up his legs, looking over at Jane, her face not far from his own.

Jane knew as soon as she felt him pulling down that she was going to fall with him and there wasn't anything she was going to be able to do about it. They landed neatly on the couch, though since he had been the one to yank her down with him, she actually got pulled up against his body in an awkward hug-like position.

"Oh! Sorry." Toby laughed again, letting go of her shoulders.

Jane stood up suddenly to mask her blush and started to move for the kitchen, "Do you have a bag or something? We should get some ice on that knee."

As Toby gave her directions for getting a bag, a towel, and some ice, he shifted the covers on the couch around so that he'd be able to lie underneath them. Leaning back into the pillow, he smiled as he watched Jane come back around the edge of the couch.

Jane grabbed an extra pillow from the floor and indicated that Toby should lift his leg. She stuffed the pillow underneath it and when he relaxed his leg back down onto it, she put the towel down, and then the sandwich bag full of ice on top of it.

"There. Hopefully that will help. Are you all set?"

Toby nodded, "Just turn the light out when you go, please!"

"Sure thing." Jane shook her head, smiling, and made her way back to his room, turning off the light in the living room and hearing Toby shuffling the blankets around behind her.

She felt more than a little awkward when she got into his room, but arguing with an injured man had proved more fruitless than she thought it would. She left his bedroom door open and flipped off the light, climbing in between the sheets and blanket and snuggling up for the night. She hoped it wasn't weird that she liked how the room smelled, and that she noticed his pillow held the scent of the shampoo that he used.

As her head hit the pillow, Jane felt certain she would lay in the bed awake for the next hour because of the strangeness of the room and the way her thoughts kept sliding back to the fact that she found herself somehow in Toby's bed. Thankfully, the length of the day wore on her mind and she slipped quickly into sleep.

* * *

_Sorry if you got two updates for the chapter or something. I posted it and then realized that I hadn't written what was in my notes about this chapter, which would have messed up my plans for the next chapter. Whoops. Went back and rewrote the ending really quickly and hoped that no one noticed, so if the end seems a bit rushed, it's because I was trying to get it done as quickly as possible! Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


	11. The Night, The Morning

_A/N: Hello once again, Audience._

_How yah been? I know, I know, it's been, like, forever. This chapter was just hard to get through for some reason. I kept having to come back to it after these longs breaks because of school and…blah. But here it is! And it's all thanks to my reviewers and favorite…rs, who continued to voice their support even after months of no word! A big thank you, as favs and reviews kept me coming back to the story!_

_TWANSITION_

_So, someone pointed out the spelling of Toby's dog's name as being incorrect. Well, before I even wrote the dog into the story, I went and looked at some of Toby's videos and saw that he had tagged both 'Griffin' and 'Gryphon' and since I wasn't writing a mostly fantasy-fic, I went with Griffin originally. Well, I've since been looking at his Vine, Instagram, Twitter, in pursuit of the true spelling and I keep seeing him spell it 'Gryphon,' on the titles, so I guess I'll change it from here on out, and maybe at some point go back and change it in previous chapters._

_TWANSITION_

_As some of you may or may not know, Toby is creating a video game for iOS, Andriod, and I think iPad based on his Tobuscus Adventures series on his youtube channel. The campaign is coming to a close, there's maybe 3? 2? days left, and he has met his goal, but there is still time to donate and become part of the process! $10 gets you a lot of stuffs. Anyway, enough advertising. The link is in my profile and also below!_

/p/tobuscus-adventures-the-game-by-toby-turner/x/3 424743

_TWANSITION_

_When we last left off, Jane fell asleep in Toby's bed with Toby asleep on the couch…_

* * *

Somewhere in her dream, Jane felt her legs being tromped on and the back of her head slowly started to realize that this wasn't part of her dream, but that someone was actually tromping on her legs.

A loud boom of thunder brought Jane the rest of the way from her sleep and she shot up in bed, heart pounding at the sudden rush of being awake.

She blinked, trying to take stock of her surroundings, slowly remembering that she stayed at Toby's house and slept in his bed.

Another couple of tromps brought Jane back to the present and she started to hear a quiet snuffing, like someone with a cold trying to clear their nasal passages.

Peering forward in the dark room, Jane finally spotted the little, furry body that nervously paced the end of the bed.

"Gryphon?"

The dog stopped for a split second and looked over at her, almost immediately picking up his feet and goose-stepping along his path again, starting to intermittently whine and huff.

Jane yawned, ready to get back to sleep, not particularly bothered by the storm at all, but she did shift her body over to the other side of the bed in case Gryphon decided to continue tromping along the bottom of that side. She assumed Toby fell asleep on that side.

Gryphon didn't take notice of her movement, anxiously plodding back and forth.

"Sorry. You probably thought I was Toby or something. He's out in the living room on the couch." Jane felt a little silly talking to the dog like he would understand, but Gryphon stared at her while she spoke, sitting there a moment longer before hopping off of the bed and bolting out the door at the sound of more thunder booming across the sky.

The concern Jane felt for the dog faded as she let her head hit the pillow again, falling quickly back into dreamland.

. . .

Gryphon hopped up onto the couch where his master lay, landing neatly in the middle of Toby's chest. Toby grunted, but did not much stir otherwise, still deep in sleep.

Trodding up to his face, Gryphon started sniffing and huffing at Toby's mouth, pressing his wet nose to various points of skin on Toby's cheeks and forehead.

"Gryphon, stahp." Toby mumbled into the dog's fur, reaching up an arm to push Gryphon's face away from his own.

Gryphon snorted at him and whined once as the rain started to pelt the glass doors to the backyard with more vehemence.

Toby made sleepy noises and shifted to put his left arm over the dog, not hardly coming out of his dreams at all.

Gryphon struggled a moment before shimmying out of Toby's grasp and landing on the floor neatly.

Toby's other arm fell off the side of the couch and Gryphon started to lick his fingertips.

That did start to draw Toby from his sleep.

"Did I fall asleep on the couch again, Gryphon?" His mumbled words maintained the voice he used for his dog.

Toby began to sit up, still mostly asleep, realizing that his joints had grown stiff in the night.

_"I've got to stop doing this. I feel so sore!"_

Swinging his legs over to the floor, Toby grimaced once, trying not to wake up too much so that he could immediately get back to sleep when he got to his bed, but struggling to move with any dexterity at all. His knee throbbed something horrible and he didn't know why.

Taking a moment of rest before he stood up, Toby leaned over and patted his expectant dog's side.

Gryphon responded by tugging at Toby's sock gently with his teeth.

"Okay, okay." Toby mumbled some more, slowly starting to rise. "Oof."

He finally got into a stand after a bit and Gryphon trotted towards his room, getting a couple of feet in front of him and stopping to look over a shoulder at Toby.

Toby mumbled something incoherent at the dog and slowly started to follow, tripping over his discarded shoes and wondering why he hadn't just put on shorts when he got home last night. His jeans felt uncomfortable.

Getting into his room, Toby knew that it'd be all he could do just to stay awake long enough to collapse on the bed, forget changing clothes. He threw back the covers and crawled in, curling up on his side before going back to sleep.

. . .

On her days off, Jane never particularly felt like she had to hurry to get up, and as she slowly felt the pull of the morning, she allowed herself to ease up out of the restfulness of the night, releasing a contended sigh and feeling warm and safe.

Strangely enough, she thought she heard her sigh echoed in the room, but dismissed it as a remnant of the lovely dream she remembered having sometime in the night.

As she steadily became more aware of her surroundings, she wondered when she had gotten such a comfortable bed; she felt as if she might never leave it. The mattress felt just squishy enough to be heavenly.

It was at this point that Jane felt the stirring of something important in the back of her mind, on the tip of her tongue but just out of her thoughts' reach.

She knew her room should be much brighter than this at the beginning of the day since she only kept blinds covering the glass so she could wake up more easily. And now that she thought about it, her right arm felt mashed against her chest in one of the most uncomfortable positions.

Her burns were aching too in the slow throb that seemed to match the pumping of her heart and-

Jane blinked her eyes open, the events of the day before crashing into her memories.

She could barely see anything for a moment or two, and as she started to shift around in a bit of a panic, she distinctly heard someone making noises of sleepy protest at her and felt what she suddenly realized were arms about her pulling her tighter and restricting her movement almost completely.

Jane's heart started to pound furiously in her chest and she felt her entire body flush as the complexity of her situation dawned on her.

Tilting her head back as best she could just confirmed what Jane already knew to be true: Toby's chin sat just above her forehead.

Jane didn't know what to do.

On the one hand, she felt so wonderful laying there in Toby's arms, like nothing in the world could harm her, and if it tried he would take whatever it was down.

On the other hand, she had no idea how he would react when he woke up, not to mention the fact that they weren't even married or anything and sleeping next to a near-stranger wasn't something Jane did on a regular basis.

Her breath came short and shallow, on the verge of indecision.

Wake him?

That would ruin a moment, though because of all the thoughts racing through her head, she wasn't exactly enjoying it now anyway.

Move out of his arms?

Jane shifted around a bit more, getting the same reaction from Toby as before: more protest and a tighter grip.

Wait it out?

Jane sighed, knowing what would make her feel better even if her heart protested, loudly, that she shouldn't.

"…Toby?"

No response.

"Toby?" Jane repeated, raising her voice just a little. She closed her mouth when he still didn't answer, making a face into his chest.

Her eyes flickered to his neck and the thoughts started pouring into her mind before she could stop them.

_She began planting kisses along the front of his elegant neck, slowly stirring the man holding her from his deep sleep. Pulling back away from her and releasing his grip slightly, she found herself staring up into his hazel eyes as they locked with hers, the deepness of his gaze causing her face to flush wonderfully._

_ He smiled at her a small smile and she knew he had seen her blush, his stomach bouncing against hers in his chuckle._

_ Instead of completely letting go of her like she half-expected him to, Toby's embrace became warmer somehow and he started to lean down towards her face, his eyes flitting to her lips for the briefest of moments, and Jane's heart fluttered as she turned her own countenance up to meet him, his full lips parting as he came closer to her and-_

"Ow!"

Interrupting her daydream, a small body landed on her legs and stomped its way up between the two, climbing onto Toby's shoulder and precariously wobbling back and forth from his perch.

Gryphon stuck his nose on Toby's ear, tail wagging, sniffing twice before his legs went out from under him and he fell off behind Toby's back.

Jane couldn't help the laugh that tore past her lips, even as she felt bad for the little nugget.

Making a face at her own thought, Jane laughed out loud again.

Gryphon recovered quickly from his tumble onto the bedsheets and immediately pranced up to Toby's hair, beginning his snuffles again all along the top of Toby's head down to his neck.

When the wet nose found the skin of Toby's neck, Toby immediately shivered.

"GryphoooOOoon." He mumbled, "Five more minutes."

Jane watched as Toby playfully swatted the dog away, his eyes still closed, and reached down with that same arm to grab the comforter at their knees, throwing it over the both of them.

Shrouded suddenly in darkness, Jane felt Toby's arm move back to encircle her waist. He snuggled closer to her, as if it was possible, and kissed the top of her head, his lips stopping to rest in her hair, which Jane was sure smelled awful since she hadn't had a shower yet this morning.

"…Toby?"

His response came in the form of some soft snoring that fluttered bits of her hair and made her neck tingle, and Jane felt sure that he had no idea what happened.

Not one to be easily dissuaded by the previous events, Gryphon glared at the point in the blanket where the back of Toby's head had been covered. He had no food in his bowl, and it was very important that there be some in there soon. As in, now.

Stepping up to Toby's pillow, and marching over beyond the bump that was Toby's head under the comforter, Gryphon managed to nose his face under the blanket in between the pair hidden beneath it and began wriggling to reach the skin of Toby's forehead, which had been partially concealed by his hair sticking in every direction, including down over his eyes.

Beginning to lick him without prejudice, Gryphon mussed up strands of Toby's hair with his slobber while attempting to actually touch tiny pink tongue to the sleeper's skin.

Jane could feel Toby start to tense.

Toby squeezed his eyes shut as hard as possible, his eyebrows and lips pursing together as he fought off both an awakened state and the smile that threatened to break onto his countenance, which would force him to acknowledge that he had been awoken by his dog's persistent attempts.

Gryphon began making noises intermittently while he licked Toby, snuffling noises that were his most basic of sound mixed with actual grunting like a whine.

Toby finally laughed, giving in and opening his eyes to limited sight, some of his hair plastered over his vision and the blanket blocking a lot of light in the room, feeling the heat from the dog's mouth almost smothering him under the comforter.

"Alright, alright, you win, you little biscuit!" Toby grinned, throwing back the covers, the lower temperature of the room around him giving him a welcome breath of fresh air.

Toby reached up and gave the small dog a good scratching behind the ears, lovingly grumbling incoherent phrases at the relentless attack that Gryphon did not stop.

"Is he hungry? Does the little nugget want his breakfast?" Toby cooed at the Shih-Tzu.

Gryphon stopped his licking and stared into his Master's eyes.

"Is that a yes?"

The dog's tail wagged once, but he did not blink.

Toby laughed again, "Alright, let's go get you food!"

Gryphon tossed his head and scrambled up out of the bed, shooting out the door to the kitchen without looking back.

Toby moved as if to get up as well, and realized that his arm was stuck underneath something and as he flexed his fingers, he felt the telltale pins and needles that signaled the lack of blood in that limb.

Suddenly his surroundings and the events of yesterday crashed in his brain all at once as he looked down to see Janey-buscus laying with her face buried in his chest.

Shifting around uncomfortably, his face starting to feel hot, Toby open and closed his mouth several times, not sure what to say.

The hand he had used to pet Gryphon lay awkwardly down his side and he kept jerking it, wanting to naturally lay it over Jane's waist, but caught in between being unsure at how she was going to react and the surprise at finding himself in this situation.

Jane felt Toby begin to move around and knew immediately that he finally noticed the situation.

With his arm not around her, she felt she could get free and she began to scoot back towards the side of the bed she fell asleep on the second time, away from Toby.

"I-uh-that is…" Toby blinked nervously several times, his jaw working around words that he couldn't get to come out of his mouth.

Once she got herself out of his reach, Jane sat up and smiled, knowing that her face was beet red as well, but starting to find the humor in the moment with Toby's face looking to be the same color.

She turned to face Toby, still grinning at him, "Is this how you always get girls into your bed?"

Toby felt flustered enough not to comment on Jane's accent.

"Sneak in at night," Jane put a hand down and leaned over closer to him, "Cuddle with them while they sleep," She put her face directly in front of his, "And kiss them on top of the head in the morning?" Her heart was pounding, but she couldn't resist teasing him.

His face didn't get any redder, but his mouth snapped shut, slowly breaking into a sly smile.

"Well, of course! I couldn't just ask them to come to bed with me. That would be too normal!"

"Uh huh." Jane moved back and leaned up against the headboard, legs bent at the knees, resting her arms atop her knees, and looking around the room.

Toby started to sit up, grimacing at the stiffness of his body, and took a moment to stare at Jane while she was distracted. His heart was still beating furiously in his chest, as if the moment before where he held her in his arms hadn't past.

He didn't really even know Jane. They hadn't even really been out on a date. He'd just met her less than a month ago, and-

"Yes?"

Jane's voice snapped Toby out of his thoughts and he found that she stared right back at him, catching him in the act.

"What?" He hoped she couldn't read minds.

"You looked like you wanted to say something." Jane shrugged, starting to get up out of the bed.

Would she be interested in him at all?

"Well, I-" Toby couldn't think of what he wanted to say.

Jane didn't turn around, stretching after standing up and working the kinks out of her neck.

Was he interested in her at all?

Toby frowned at that thought. He was attracted to her, wasn't he?

His head tilted as his eyes followed the curve of her jeans over her hip as she stretched and he suddenly broke his gaze, shaking his head.

Yes, most definitely attracted.

Could he think of her as more than just a project? Someone that he had self-imposed bringing excitement to their lives?

"Uh, Janey, I-"

It couldn't hurt to try. Just to ask. She might not even be interested in dating. Or in dating him.

The doorbell suddenly rang and Gryphon began barking.

The moment passed and Toby shook his head, previous thoughts draining out of his mind.

Jane started a bit at the doorbell, briefly looking like a fox caught in the chicken coop before regaining herself and glancing over at Toby.

Toby smiled up at her and turned to his side of the bed, swinging his legs over the edge and grimacing harder this time as he felt the muscles in his knees protest over yesterdays mob-escapade.

Jane attempted to smooth her hair down and not look as if she had just spent the night at a near-strangers house. She glanced over at Toby again, wondering why she hadn't started to consider him a friend, even just inside her head.

"Um, Janey, a little help here?"

Toby's voice brought Jane back from her little internal monologue and she walked over and put out her hands.

Toby took them and started to pull himself up, but apparently Jane's mind was still on other things, and instead of pulling him up, he yanked them both down…back onto the bed.

* * *

_Ugh. I had written out on a piece of paper some storyline that I of course lost and still haven't found. Makes me sad face. Okay, I gotta go. Bless your face. If you sneezed during this chapter, bless you. Peace off. Ba-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do REVIEW! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEEEN WHITENESS. THEN...BOOP!_


End file.
